Summer of the dead

Some of you know at the beginning of the summer we decided it was time our little family got a pet. Will has been begging for years, and we finally gave in and got a RAT! Many of you are wondering why? I was asking myself that same question. But, my sister talked me into it. One of her son's elementary school teachers had a classroom pet every year, and I guess had every kind of small rodent/pet there can possibly be. Out of all of them, she liked the rats the best. They are kind to children, not nipping too much, tolerate being held, are fairly easy to keep, and actually are pretty smart and can be trained (to a point). (I wasn't paying attention when my friend Jeana told me how much poo can come out of a little thing like that.)

Well, my kids (minus Peter) were so excited and played with it all the time. After about three weeks, Lucy had it outside on the deck while I helped her clean the cage. I guess RAT took a dive off the table because all the sudden Lucy comes in the door and says "Mom, we need some tissue because the rat has a bloody nose." Uh-oh. Then she said, "Look, Mom, the rat is playing dead." Double uh-oh. I took the poor rat from her and it was convulsing and bleeding all over the place. Then, after a minute of that, it started spewing foam and stopped moving. Lucy and Will were in hysterics for what seemed like forever. I guess it is good to learn the lesson of life and death. But, even if it is just a little rat, as opposed to a family member or friend, it still SUCKS.

We buried it in a corner of our front yard and had a prayer over RAT (or "Mint" depending on who you're talking to). It was a sweet moment until Peter got up off his knees and ran off saying "I didn't like the rat anyway." I guess we show our grief in different ways, or maybe it is that the rat grossed him out like it did me.

Thanks, Amy and Lily, for bringing flowers to the grave. They are still there.

And if one dead animal wasn't enough for that spot of ground, Will found a wounded sparrow in the street and took it home to care for it. He didn't want another animal to die. But it did. Now "Spirit" (as they named it) resides besides RAT. And if that wasn't enough, Will found ANOTHER injured bird and brought it to rest in our small animal cemetery.

So, if you have a small rodent or pet you would like to dispose of, please feel free to bring it to the NE corner of our driveway. There's still some room left. We'll find a rock to place on its head and say a prayer for it (and you)!