In Which Maggie Suffers an Ingnominious Haircut

Mags survived her first professional bath, manicure and trim today. Afterwards, she took out her displeasure on her favorite wrestling partner.

On another topic, Idaho is not known for its hardwoods. Native trees are conifers, aspens and cottonwoods. The cottonwood next to our house is home to a beautiful owl, who can be heard hooting through the night (The first few nights I heard this I swore pigeons had taken roost on our roof).

Due to the lack of hardwoods, there aren’t many squirrels. I’m convinced the few squirrels that do live hear aren’t particularly bright. It was rare in Ohio to see a squirrel as roadkill. They were too smart. Ohio squirrels would walk along telephone wires to cross the street or if they had to cross on the ground they would at least make sure there weren’t any cars.

Not here. I’ve seen more dead squirrels than live ones. I was reminded of this as I drove home from the vet with Maggie. There are four hardwoods along a winding road about a quarter mile from our house. I’ve never seen squirrels in these trees yet every three months a new pair of dead squirrels lies in the road. Such was the case this afternoon. They always die in pairs. It’s a shame and a mystery. It’s almost as if the squirrels migrate to the trees and then realize there isn’t anything to eat so they get careless as they go foraging for food⎯whatever that might be since there aren’t any nuts.