Texas Neighbors

Andrew and I are ever so fortunate to have some of the greatest, caring neighbors.  We help each other out in a time of need.  Emergency babysitting?  Check.  Emergency check-in the puppy/kitty/birds?  Check.   An urgent need for pinking sheers?  Check.

King of the Hill: Sort of like this, but not quite. . . 

I can pop on by next door for a cup of sugar.  If I were to cook.  Or for a shot gun.

Oh wait, I didn't exactly borrow the shot gun.  Or the hunting rifle or whatever type of fire arm it was.


This here is my driveway.

This here is the small smattering off trees behind my house.  Behind that a highway.  It is noisy.  I would like new sound proof windows, but that doesn't really fit into this post.  Moving on.

Saturday afternoon.  Ellie is napping.  Andrew is in Spain.  Yes, the country in Europe.  I am left to fend for myself so I lie down for a little siesta and hear:

BOOM!

My thoughts were "what on earth are Amelie and Tama (the possessed cats) doing again?" and "Thank you, Sophie for not barking and waking The Bear up."

I roll over.

KA-BOOM!

At this point, I believe that a large bird or some small animal like an armadillo flew/was tossed into my window.  Nope, just a few friendly Texans with cell phone cameras and a gun in my driveway.

Me when I looks out my kitchen window.
Yes, my hair looks like that all the time.

Ah Hah!  Those were gun shots. Why on Earth didn't Sophie-dog alert the motherland?

A poor buck got hit on the highway.  His back legs were in tatters with flies circling all around.  He dragged himself through the woods onto my driveway.  Right by my car.   My kitty, Amelie, was trying to get in on the action.

Fortunately, my neighbor and his son (who was visiting) noticed the suffering little deer and put him out of his misery.  I gasped.  Cried.  And took a picture, of course.  No, I am not posting on here.   Then, I pleaded with my neighbors to help me properly dispose of him.  Thankfully, they know what a wuss I am when it comes to injured animals and took care of the poor deer for me.  Did I mention that I have great neighbors?

What I was visualizing--those big eyes, the antlers, sweet innocence.

My neighbor had called and left a message to say he would be using a gun on my property.  Unfortunately, I believe he called a different Anna.  Also, unfortunately, my other not-so-nice neighbor who I never go to for anything didn't get a phone call either.  He isn't social so no one has his number.  He does own a phone though because he used it to call 911.

So we all got a friendly visit from the Sheriff.  I really like that my "not-so-nice" neighbor was looking out for all of us.  Even being in Texas and all where nearly everyone (except for me apparently) totes a gun around and gunshots can go unnoticed, he did the right thing by calling the police.  Luckily, in this case, it was a deer that was put out of his misery, but sadly, there are too many instances where gunshots cause deadly harm to humans.

Lessons learned:
1. If you ever need a gun, visit your Texan neighbor.
2. If you plan on shooting wildlife in a semi-populated area like say a subdivision, notify the police first because your other neighbors will call alarmed.
3. Things always happen when Andrew is inaccessible.
4. I clearly did not know what a shot gun sounded like before this.
5. I need a new guard dog but Miss Sophie was clearly slacking.