Oh, The Joys Of A Doggy Door

Yesterday, it rained and rained and rained. One thunderstorm after another. The front and backyards became lakes.

I had mowed the backyard first thing in the morning, good thing, too, because by 10 AM it came a gully washer - a preview of the rest of the day. Nothing to do but flop on the couch and read a bit.

Of course, the puppies - now 9 months old - were still brimming with energy and had to run out in the yard in between showers to race around, get wet and nasty, then fly back in the house to find me and shake. Seems like all I really did was to dry them off, throw towels in the washer, flop on the couch, dry them off, throw towels in the washer....well, you get the picture.

Finally, around 5 PM, the rains subsided, the dogs got fed and we all sort of settled down. I was laying on the couch, trying to finish a chapter of the book I was reading. Magic was right beside me, looking at something on the floor. He'd slap at it, bounce a bit,then poke me with his nose. Look what I've found!!

I was a bit irritated by then and kept telling him to settle down. He had been playing with a rubber squeaky toy and I was sure it was stuck under the couch where I was. Either that or a dying cricket was crawling by....

"Please, just let me finish this chapter and I'll get the danged toy out!"

Finally, the end of the chapter. I raise up and look down.

What is that?? (My glasses were on top of my head) I pull the glasses down, get them adjusted and have another look.

IT'S A BOX TURTLE!

A small, baseball sized little box turtle. Poor thing! I pick it up - now,all the dogs want it.... grabbed the camera and took it out on the front porch. The poor creature's front carpace had been gnawed off by the dogs.

.....and it was bleeding....

Poor baby turtle. I cleaned it off and applied antiseptic and took it out into the front and returned it to nature. I guess all that water had flushed the little fella out and when the pups were out on one of their forays, they'd found it and brought it in.

It's mostly a good thing to have a dog door - but, then there's the possibility of stuff like this, too!