“Remoted” – Day 464 (Wednesday)

Chuck surveys the kingdom.

The local wildlife made several appearances in the yard today. Chuck the woodchuck has been back under the shed the last couple days, and yesterday, stood at the entrance to the underground palace, surveying the kingdom that is the BungaLowell back yard. Previously, Chuck had been spotted only in the weeds at the end of the street and darting into or out of the round storm drain opening across the street at the neighbor’s yard. 

Today, Chuck alternated yard visits with Bunny, who has often been seen in the front yard, dashing across the driveway between my yard and the neighbor’s yard, and in the back yard. The difference between the visits by Bunny and Chuck is that when I appear, Bunny freezes in place, disappearing into the background, and Chuck runs and just disappears. A couple times, Bunny would be near the flower bed, and minutes later was replaced by Chuck. I never saw the changing of the guard, and could only wonder if it was magic that replaced one brown critter with another in Pawtucketville's Animal Kindgom.

Bunny frozen in position.

Early this morning, I let Moose out to potty, and for whatever odd and rare reason, there was no phone in my hand. He paused just inside the gate to poop on the stone pavers and Bunny sat, still as a statue, just feet away. Talk about a missed photo opportunity.  For most of the morning, Bunny sat in the shifting shade, nose twitching, nearly blending into the stone flower bed edge stones or the dirt between the shed and the chain link fence along the property line. 

Many times, when a dog went out, Bunny froze in position until the dog, still completely unaware of Bunny, went back inside. It was a fascinating scene that played out with numerous encores. Once upon a time, before breathing problems and blindness, there would have been a chase. Winston was always ready to give pursuit to whatever happened along – including the black cat with the yellow demon eyes that he once chased behind the shed in the chilling and exciting feline canine confrontation.

While Chuck and Bunny alternated sitting and grazing in the yard, Moose and Winston had a food war happening inside. Moose loves his new plain prescription food to ease digestion, and also Winston’s prescription food. Meanwhile, Winston is boycotting his pricey prescription kibble formulated to maintain glucose levels, while trying to get at Moose’s food. It’s a good thing their bowls are separated and I have time to intervene when I hear the positional changes so I can send them back to their corners. We get our excitement where ever we can find it around here.