A Sad Day

We had just returned last night (January 7) from a very good 4-day trip to south Florida when we received news about 11:30am that one of our pet guinea pigs had died. We had left Precious and Sparky in the care of two neighborhood friends of Christopher and Charissa while we went south. They did a wonderful job, providing attentive, loving care. But on Sunday afternoon, during a 30-second distraction, their own pet dachshund got into the room and attacked Precious. It was over for her in a few seconds, without a lot of pain or suffering. The kids ran in as soon as they heard the commotion and grabbed the dog, but it was too late for Precious.

Precious was Christopher's guinea pig, and her death was a very hard shock to him. About two hours after we got the news, we retrieved the two pets (Precious came home in an orange shoebox) and held a brief internment ceremony in the woods behind our house. Tears were shed by all for a beloved little pet with a sweet and responsive disposition.

We don't know anywhere in the Scriptures where it says anything about the destiny of animals, but we do know that a merciful and loving God made them and allows us to love them for awhile. It wouldn't surprise me at all that, once we're in heaven, that God would bless us somehow through these little creatures. In my imagination, maybe God will use these little departed blessings to somehow "wipe away every tear". Again, the Bible doesn't say that God will do something like this...but it would be just like the creative, empathetic Father he is to warm His children this way.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20.

Freedom for them...and relief for us

Last Saturday (Sep 29), we decided that our two little raccoon babies had eaten enough and were getting big enough to fend for themselves. We never intended for them to become "pets," despite the yearnings of my daughter Charissa. It wouldn't have been good for them to remain caged, and it definitely would not have been good for us. It's interesting, though, that this realization was nearly simultaneous with the growing need to deal with the stench of the uncleaned cage...

It took awhile to decide where we would let them go, and then we changed our minds after we got there. We wanted them to have water nearby, but we wanted it to also be a place where there was little proximity to human habitations. We finally selected a "swampish" lowland where they had access to water and relative isolation. We opened the cage door, then walked to a vantage point about 70 yards away to watch. The kits stayed huddled in the back corner of the cage, hugging each other for security. We scattered some apple slices in front of the cage to draw the out. It was about 8am.

We were worried that it would take hours for them to be willing to venture out of the cage, but it only took about 15 minutes. They came out the door, ignored the food and took of at a brisk walk in a direction opposite us. One following the other, they moved as if they knew exactly where they were going. Within 10 minutes, they were about 200 yards away, where they climbed about 50 feet up a large tree.

We are grateful to God for this little week-long interlude with two of his cuter animal creations.

Thanks, mom!

Our little buggers have decided that they can eat solid food now! Last night, Katy put a bowl of sliced grapes and broken-up hardboiled egg in their cage, and it was all gone by this morning. They have also taken a bit of the KMR (Kitten Milk Replacement) we bought for them, but they don't like it as much as the sweeter stuff we made with Karo syrup in it. Things are looking up!

Being foster parents

Last Saturday morning we became the foster parents for two cute little baby raccoons. I found them wandering in a large grassy field just off a main road, looking lost and insecure. My wife Katy approached them, but they scampered 30 feet up a nearby tree. My children (Christopher,10, and Charissa, 8) arrived on the scene and nearly swooned under all the cuteness. After six hours of watching with binoculars from several hundred yards away, the little guys came down to the ground. Katy and another woman snatched them up (with much hissing and flailing) and brought them home in a cardboard box. In all that time, we never saw the momma raccoon anywhere and we feel pretty certain that the little guys are indeed orphans.

From what we can gather, they are probably between 7 and 9 weeks old. It took about 24 hours for them to calm down enough to take some "milk" Katy made up from an Internet animal-rescue recipe. They eat pretty regularly, but today we found out that the recipe is oh-so-yesterday and will give them diarrhea (yes, it does).

We have gotten some baby-care instructions, many of them contradictory, from the web. We are also getting phone calls and emails from people who have heard about our little adventure. About half are warning us of dreadful diseases, and half are giving us feeding advice. We are being very careful to not handle them, with the little coons living just outside our back door in a metal rabbit cage. The weather is still warm enough for them to be there until some more decision-making is done. We are definitely not wanting them as pets, but only keep them until they can survive on their own.