Tater (posted by Ann)

It was quite a day for Tater yesterday. First, I got this e-mail from Don:

"So Tater starts going nuts. I look out the office window to see the meter reader is here. Nope. But there’s some type of noise coming from downstairs near the dining room window. But there’s no car in the driveway. Tater’s still going nuts. I get downstairs and I hear some sheet metal scraping noise. But there’s nothing out there. Tater’s still going nuts. I hold him back and go out the front door. I hear the scraping noise from near the dining room window. I walk over the edge of the front stoop and it’s coming from the downspout. Some little critter (squirrel or bird) has fallen into the downspout from the gutter. Tater’s calmed down but he’s not happy about the scraping noise. Then I noticed a small bird fly away from the bushes near the downspout. The scraping continues. It must be a bird, and a pretty stupid bird at that.

I just can’t leave the little guy down there. So I get some tools and start disassembling the downspout. Tater is watching intently out of the window. Ready to call 911, I guess. It occurs to me that when I open up the downspout, I’m going to get a small, scared, maybe pissed off bird exploding out of there right in my face. So I stop and get a drop cloth to create a wall of sorts. No more scraping… Uh oh. If it’s gotten into the drain tile, it’s screwed. I pull off a section of the downspout. Nothing falls out. There’s a cap that reduces the opening of the drain tile to the dimension of the downspout. I remove that. Nothing happens. I look down and these two beady eyes are looking up. Crap! How am I going to get that freakin’ bird up out of there. I sit back and think… vacuum cleaner!!! As I’m contemplating the effect of high pressure vacuum on a small bird, a blur of feathers pops out of the drain and disappears.

And not even a simple thank you."

I read the e-mail on my BlackBerry in the middle of a meeting, and had to excuse myself because I couldn't control the laughing.

Then, as if saving a bird wasn't enough for the day, he went out last night and got skunked. Now, remember that we are leaving on vacation tomorrow morning, leaving our house sitter to stay with the dogs. I had to call her this morning and ask whether she would be willing to come and stay. Steve gets to spend his day taking Tater to get cleaned, and trying to get the house to not smell so bad.

I'm headed in to work, wondering whether I smell like skunk. Sure hope not!