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Story #2
Now that we know what vole are, and now that we know that across from my yard is a large empty field, enter a new character; the hawk.
Yes, the hawk. Quite frequently, hawk and very large fowl circle the vicinity looking for prey. One morning we looked out the window and perched on the neighbor's roof was a beautiful golden eagle.
(We also sat and watched a bald eagle eat a whole deer carcass! Yes, a real bald eagle!)
One fine summer day, we were playing out in the yard. We were enjoying the beautiful sunny day. A grand hawk had been circling the field all day. We watched it fly so gracefully and swoop and swerve all afternoon.
"Hey Erika, a vole!" Tye proclaimed.
Low and behold, there was a live vole in window well three.
The kids and I knew the routine. Get the shovel, get the box for transportation, load the vole, lift the vole, insert vole in box and release in field. It was standard procedure.
Erika got the box, and Tye got the shovel. And I always sat back and watched until said rodent was detained and safely enclosed in the box.
Enter new character; Dad.
Dad came quickly to action and took the shovel from Tye. Everything was in place, Erika was with the box waiting for just the right moment when the shovel came out of the well. She crouched down in position and waited.
Dad slowly loaded the vole and lifted it up. At the moment we all thought he would plop the vole into the box, he took a step back instead, pivoted slightly, and flung the vole as hard as he could up, up over the fence, out of our yard, and at least thirty feet in the air towards the street. All the while, three voices yelled,"Ahhhhhhhhhh" in horror.
The vole twisted and turned. Its arms flailed. It skidded into the road landing on its back and was thrashing about in the street.
"Dad!!!" the kids both cried.
We were is shock at what we just witnessed.
I scolded this new character; the dad, and demanded to know how he was going to end its miser and asked why he decided to horrify (new word) our small children.
"You'll see..." said dad.
The kids were very upset at watching the vole flip and flop. I sent them inside the house and told them I would be right in.
"Let's get the first aid kit Erika!" Tye said as they sprang into action.
Shortly after they left, the hawk emerged. It circled a couple times over the field then zoomed in on the thrashing vole, made its descent, swooped down low and pick up the vole in its clinched claws.
I stared at Dad. I was amazed. Somehow, he was not surprised.
It was like National Geographic in our own backyard!
I was not going to tell the kids who were inside looking for the first aid kit.
It was not long after that the kids came back outside. They stood in amazement. Tye's mouth hung open and Erika's head cocked as they both saw that the vole was...gone!
My head dropped in sadness. I though they had put two and two together and realized the hawk had taken the vole.
"Tye! Look! It lived and ran back to its family in the field!" Erika announced.
I threw a look of disapproval to my husband who was propped up on the murder weapon and laughing quietly.
Aww, the innocence of childhood.
You know...if my kids ever figure out how to read and catch on to this blog, I am going to be in a heap of trouble!!!
Now that we know what vole are, and now that we know that across from my yard is a large empty field, enter a new character; the hawk.
Yes, the hawk. Quite frequently, hawk and very large fowl circle the vicinity looking for prey. One morning we looked out the window and perched on the neighbor's roof was a beautiful golden eagle.
(We also sat and watched a bald eagle eat a whole deer carcass! Yes, a real bald eagle!)
One fine summer day, we were playing out in the yard. We were enjoying the beautiful sunny day. A grand hawk had been circling the field all day. We watched it fly so gracefully and swoop and swerve all afternoon.
"Hey Erika, a vole!" Tye proclaimed.
Low and behold, there was a live vole in window well three.
The kids and I knew the routine. Get the shovel, get the box for transportation, load the vole, lift the vole, insert vole in box and release in field. It was standard procedure.
Erika got the box, and Tye got the shovel. And I always sat back and watched until said rodent was detained and safely enclosed in the box.
Enter new character; Dad.
Dad came quickly to action and took the shovel from Tye. Everything was in place, Erika was with the box waiting for just the right moment when the shovel came out of the well. She crouched down in position and waited.
Dad slowly loaded the vole and lifted it up. At the moment we all thought he would plop the vole into the box, he took a step back instead, pivoted slightly, and flung the vole as hard as he could up, up over the fence, out of our yard, and at least thirty feet in the air towards the street. All the while, three voices yelled,"Ahhhhhhhhhh" in horror.
The vole twisted and turned. Its arms flailed. It skidded into the road landing on its back and was thrashing about in the street.
"Dad!!!" the kids both cried.
We were is shock at what we just witnessed.
I scolded this new character; the dad, and demanded to know how he was going to end its miser and asked why he decided to horrify (new word) our small children.
"You'll see..." said dad.
The kids were very upset at watching the vole flip and flop. I sent them inside the house and told them I would be right in.
"Let's get the first aid kit Erika!" Tye said as they sprang into action.
Shortly after they left, the hawk emerged. It circled a couple times over the field then zoomed in on the thrashing vole, made its descent, swooped down low and pick up the vole in its clinched claws.
I stared at Dad. I was amazed. Somehow, he was not surprised.
It was like National Geographic in our own backyard!
I was not going to tell the kids who were inside looking for the first aid kit.
It was not long after that the kids came back outside. They stood in amazement. Tye's mouth hung open and Erika's head cocked as they both saw that the vole was...gone!
My head dropped in sadness. I though they had put two and two together and realized the hawk had taken the vole.
"Tye! Look! It lived and ran back to its family in the field!" Erika announced.
I threw a look of disapproval to my husband who was propped up on the murder weapon and laughing quietly.
Aww, the innocence of childhood.
You know...if my kids ever figure out how to read and catch on to this blog, I am going to be in a heap of trouble!!!
.
Great post, Amy! I had never even HEARD of a vole before your last post, and then last night on the Discovery Channel it said that voles are one of only about 3% of mammals that are MONOGAMOUS. Did you know that? That fact makes this story even that much more sad. Well, even if you had released the vole into the field, the hawk would have probably had it for dinner anyway, so don't feel TOO bad!
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