The Circle of Life...

Most of you out there know that I am a certified tree hugger. My husband is quickly learning the ropes of my environmental indoctrination. Well, sometimes the best laid plans are destroyed by the harsh reality of nature. Picture in your mind the exciting chase that ensues between the hunter and the hunted. Mutual of Omaha...Sunday wildlife special....prey and predator...you get the picture? Well our wonderful puppy Roman has already killed a rooster...shear luck for us. Roman is not even a year and is already quite the hunter. Well today, while my husband is away on extended trip to Utah, our humane trap had an inhabitant. A furry grey ground squirrel was lured in by the peanut butter. Now, I have gotten over their "cuteness" when I step into one of their lovely holes in the ground. So I was glad to capture the little bugger. Christian, being the very good cub scout, loaded it into our jeep, with the intent of letting it go in a field up above our house. The dogs come barreling up the hill behind us (their favorite form of exercise) and I didn't think anything of it. Christian grabbed the cage and put it near the edge of the field and let it go. Now that squirrel was pretty happy to leave its cramped quarters. Until, the lion, Wilson "pursued" the freed prisoner. Wilson is not the quickest dog. Roman, on the other hand, is a stealth bomber. The squirrel took off up north and that is when the Mutual of Omaha scene began. The prey and the predator in the fight for your life dance, with the audience of squealing kids and grossed out mom. He shook that squirrel to death in his jaws. I booked it out of there. I bet you money the kids will have nightmares. I will dream of the lion chasing the zebra in a Sunday special about the ugly truth of nature. Sometimes the best laid plans fall apart before your very eyes...maybe I should contact PETA and fill them in on the fact that us Humans are not the only barbarians in the animal kingdom...go figure.