Hit And Run (Our Maker's Acres Edition)

Belle is our dog.  She's a good dog, no doubt.  Look at those eyes.  It's like she can do not wrong, right?

Wrong.  Having Belle is like owning a excavator or a backhoe, or a bulldozer that turns itself on by itself and digs up the property at will.  She's done this in the last few days:

What a mess!  That was after getting bored digging this.

She digs the holes and then we fill them.  She's recently dug up a bed full of lilies that encircled a pecan tree.  I don't know what we're going to do with her.  

But recently evidence of additional digging has been found that is not from Belle.  It appears to be damage from an armadillo.  Several weeks ago, Tricia and I ran around at night with a spot light and a rifle and killed an armadillo that was digging in the front yard.  But now another one?  It has dug some holes underneath the smoker and various other spots in the yard.  Not that we've ever been concerned with having a manicured lawn, but this is ridiculous between Belle and the armadillos.

Country living is great, but there's always another item to put on the to do list that probably most people don't have.  Anyhow, I made a mental note to add "Kill armadillo" on the to do list.  Friday morning started out like any other Friday morning.  I woke up, showered, poured coffee and headed out the door at 5:18 am.  I started the car and backed out of the garage, turned on the headlights, put the car in drive and began driving down the driveway.

That's when I spotted the perp.  There was a beady eyed armadillo about 10 yards in front of me on the driveway.  Like a madman, I gunned the motor and, with a wicked gleam in my eye, sped toward the armored villain.  I could hear the animal hit the underneath of my car, possibly the oil pan.  Then, I felt a pleasing "thwunck" noise as my back tire passed over the body of the offending animal.  Three hours later, I called Tricia to see if she could walk out in the yard and located the prey.  She found it!  I was successful in my hit & run event.

When I got home later, I was in charge of disposing of the remains.  Here is the flat dude right here.  His digging days are done.

An autopsy was not performed; I know how he died.  However, you can see those powerful claws he uses for digging.

I got a pitchfork and carried him across the road and pitched him into the middle of a field.  I didn't even give him a proper burial.  I will save my energy with the shovel for filling in the holes he dug.