the great outdoors according to Oscar

A couple of nights ago, I allowed Oscar to leave the house and walk
out onto the deck. This isn't something she is typically allowed to
do.

She slowly moved out to the edge of the deck, down the stairs ... and
that's where her trek ended. I shouldn't have worried about her
bolting across the yard and into the street; as soon as she got to the
grass, she settled down for some salad.

She literally didn't step off of the rocks that border our deck; just
far enough to put tongue to grass, and that was it. Chew, chew, chew.
Apparently that's all the great outdoors is to her: a giant salad bar.

DH and I wondered whether we could put her to work weeding ...

Of course, the next morning, there was a nice grass-entwined hairball
waiting for me on the steps. Yum!

sriddles...

That sounds like my old Cherokee. The only reason he ever wanted to
outside was to eat grass so he could come in and hurl on the carpet.

dnr...

That's exactly what my furry dictators used to do in FL yard when I'd
put them all out and sit by them as they munched St. Augustine grass
blades, all inside a large dog cage w/bottom slid out. I never take them
out here....foxes and skunks, not to mention those prairie dogs, live
right in next block.

dnr...

Wow! You do live in a rough neighborhood. Those prairie d*gs will get

Tanada...

Wow! You do live in a rough neighborhood. Those prairie d*gs will get
you, one way or another. Sorry, although I know you're right, it just
struck me as funny and reminded me of the episode of the Muppet Show
with Dyan Cannon, the Prairie D*g Glee club stole everything, including
Waldorf and Statler's clothing.

Monique Y. Mudama...

Prairie dogs are believed to carry the plague ... well, the fleas on
them do, anyway. So it's a good idea to keep pets away from them.

Prairie dogs are everywhere in the spring. It's always funny going on a
walk near them with a dog, because the prairie dog calls sound exactly
like a squeaky toy. Drives the dogs nuts. Yet another reason to have a
well-trained dog around here. (Unless you're in national forest, you
don't have to have the dog on a leash either, as long as they're under
voice control. And they better be, given how many other people, dogs,
and horses are on the trails. Not to mention the wildlife, everything
from deer and rabbits to bear and mountain lions. The oddest thing I
ever saw on the trail was a woman walking two alpacas.)

Pam S. still smiling

dnr...

Prairie Dog Glee Club! ROFL. They *do* squeak loudly (seem to have a
communication system all their own) all day and night right across the
street in a huge several-block "greenbelt" (I'd call them "fields" if this
were
s. FL) right across street. Skunks and foxes live in copse one block west.
No trees where prairie dogs live. Many people where I live cut through
this "field" (it's downhill from here) on their way to shopping right past
field....not me...their germs, not to mention that possible "plague" (no
kidding, a real threat here) can be carried inside on your shoes/pants
legs!
The really funny/wierd fact is that directly west a couple blocks is the
big, major local mall/shopping enclave I can walk to easily, lotsa traffic
and activity! This is actually about 4 blocks south of where the skunks
and foxes live. Talk about hoomins and wildlife coexisting nearby each
other! People who don't live right around here don't know about the
critter-loaded wooded copse.....but anyone who knows what's what
can see those prairie dogs jumping in their fields and wallowing on the
hot sidewalks beside the busy roads.
I'm paranoid re bringing nasties/germs home to the indoor-only cats.
No walking shortcuts for me......