A little over a month ago, everybody in my family was out of town with the exception of my adorable sister, Lindsey. My family has 3 dogs at my parents house and Lindsey agreed to spend the weekend at home ensuring the well being of these furry family members. Well one night Lindsey was getting ready for bed when she heard two of our dogs at the laundry room door which leads to the garage. Sierra is a
Finish Spitz and she loves to bark. She barks at everything and anything! Her partner in crime is Sitka, an
Alaskan Malamute. Sitka is the worlds sweetest dog
who is always curious about what's going on around her, but her timid personality seems to get in the way of getting to the bottom of everything she would like. Well, both of these dogs were at the door and were excitedly prancing around and whimpering like they normally would when someone from the family comes home. Lindsey couldn't figure out why the dogs were doing this since everyone in the family was out of state. Lindsey went over to the door and opened it up, and announced loudly to the dogs, "See look! Nobody is-" when she saw a pair of shoes and shins as somebody lifted our garage door up. Hearing Lindsey's voice must have gave the intruder a fright because he dropped the door and took off running. What a bastard! Don't break into our house! Who does that? Anyway, Since then, we have been really careful about making sure the doors are all locked and the house is secured.
Let's jump to last night.
Lindsey and I had both gotten home from our long day of work, school, wedding receptions, and/or the gym. We sat in the dining room talking to one another as we heated up some left over dinner. When suddenly I hear a weird scratching noise coming from the back door. I stopped mid-sentenced and asked Lindsey if she heard that sound. We both listened intently. There it was again. A slight scratching noise. Sierra took off in a bounding leap to see what the noise could be. More scrathing. Lindsey and I looked at eachother and back at the door. What the crap is that? Our older sister Keri had left about 20 or 30 minutes prior to go to her boyfriend's house. Keri is quite the practical joker and always seems to be playing a prank on everyone. I asked Linds, "Do you think that's Keri?" The scratching, albeit faint, was still behind the back door. I was totally getting freaked out, but was also convinced it was Keri. I was so irritated that she would scare her sisters like that. Sierra and Sitka both stood by the door with their ears perked straight up as they intently listenend. "Quick" I whispered to Lindsey, "go lock the door!" Lindsey not being such a scaredy cat as I, quietly tip-toed over to the door. She very slowly extended her hand out and with a sudden jerk turned the deadbolt before her arm recoiled back into her body as she jumped away from the door. Lindsey then drew the blinds so we could peer out the window onto the back steps. "Wait" I whispered again. "We need to lock the other doors. I'll get the front door." We each took off with a purpose and had the house secured within seconds. We met back at the window, opened it up to look at the porch. Dammit! For a good... 10 plus years now we haven't had a screen on our back window. It was only within the last few months that we finally added a screen. (Much to my sadness too! In the winter we would often throw chopped carrots out to the dogs and laugh as they dived with their noses thrusting into the snow in search of a frosty vege treat.) With the screen up, we couldnt' see who was at the back door. "Hello?" I asked very forcefully (although inside I was petrified). No answer. "HELLO?" I called out again to the scratching pervert. What the hell? Is he gone? Has he moved on to the next house? Lindsey, feeling vulnerable in her bathrobe (during the first incident of someone trying to break in, she was in nothing but her bra and underwear since it's been so freakin' hot lately.) left to put some clothes on. I stood my post and kept watch for who only knows what could be sneaking around. I then saw something. It was directly beneath me. It was standing on the 4 by 4 outlining my dad's rosebushes. Is that... is that a cat? It suddenly bounded out onto the grass and slinked into the middle of the yard. It's a ferret!! Lindsey was back upstairs and couldn't help but clarify what I said as we shuffled Sierra into a back room so she wouldn't run out the back door. "A ferret?" she questioned. "Yes. A ferret!" We grabbed our flashlights and headed outside for a ferret hunt. As we followed the rustlings we heard now again, we were lead to the back corner of the yard where our irrigation ditch starts. Lindsey shown her flashlight at the base of the ditch where two eyes reflected back at us. The ferret froze for a second but soon came trotting over and eagerly began sniffing us. Unsure of how the ferret would react, Lindsey picked him up by the scruff of his neck. She had learned in her Vet Tech clas that this is a very comfortable position for ferrets. Sure enough, our little buddy just hung out as he dangled there. He just chilled. (It was serioulsy the cutest thing!) We weren't sure what to do with him. It was obvious he was somebody's pet, but being 11:30 at night we couldn't exactly call people asking if they misplaced such a lovable creature. We walked out to the front yard and began talking to our neighbor. He said some nieghbors at the top of the street had some ferrets. He pulled out his cell phone and called to see if they were missing one. All ferrets were accounted for, but they said they would watch the ferret until the rightful owners were found. So Lindsey and I , along with a parade of intrigued kids (ummm... isn't it way past your bedtime?) walked to the top of the street. Our ferret was content to be in his hanging position, and his body bobbed along as we trecked to his temporary bed for the evening. The next day Keri made some calls around the neighborhood. It turns out, our little buddy belonged to a family that lives in a new development circle just southwest of our property. They had already been in contact with the foster parents that day, and our cute friend (named Billy!) was already back at home living the high life. We were very excited to hear he had been reunited with his family. Lindsey and I have already decided that we will have to go say hi to Billy to see how the little tyke is doing. I just might take a camera so I can post a picture of how adorable he is!
So in hindsight (being 20/20 and all), we feel a little sheepish getting so freaked out over a little furry friend who was just looking for his way back home. But... better to be safe than sorry right? The news reported a sicko who mimicked a crying baby on single womens porches to lure them outside. And let's not forget the ever inventive Gideon (bless his beautiful hide) on "
7 Brides for 7 Brothers" luring Alice away from her cozy fireplace as he meowed to the moonlight. Gotta be careful these days. Luckily all is well. The house was not invaded, Lindsey and I were not harmed, and most importantly- we are scheduling a playdate to see our new found friend- Billy. Except this time Billy, we'll come scatching at your door.
verything. We go into the backyard where she meets my dogs. None of them knew quite what to think of eachother. Lucky and Sierra probably walked in 20 circles trying to sniff eachother. Once they got use to one another, Sierra just sat and barked. Sitka followed Lucky barking because she wanted to play. Nikita is older and can't move too fast, so she tried to sniff Lucky as she zipped by. I kept Luky in the backyard to play with my pooches as I mowed the front lawn. Lucky sat by the fence and sadly barked at me. I think she thought I had dognapped her. Once I finished the front and moved to the back, Lucky was so excited! She ran and explored the whole yard. She even found 2 soccerballs and 1 volleyball which I had no idea we even owned. By the time we left, her sweet little paws were stained GREEN
! I loaded her up in the car (She showed more enthusiasm since she knew she was going home.) Michael called me on my way back and invited me and Lucky over. We stopped by his house where he has 2 Shiba Inus. Lucky went through the rounds again of sniffing a new place and having 2 dogs follow her around. Mike's dog Isis is eye level with Lucky's wagging tail, but didn't seemed to mind getting slapped in the face with it as it didn't stop her from following Lucky around. We sat down to watch a Wolverine cartoon and 
Lucky was just pacing the room. I tried to get Lucky to lay down, but she wouldn't. I asked Little Lucky why she didn't want to relax when Michael chimes in, "Probably because Odin and Isis keep invading her personal space." Sure enough, every time Lucky tried to lay down, the dogs were next to her investigating. Slowly we all ended up falling asleep. The next thing you know it's Michael and I squooshed onto his bed with Lucky, Odin, and Isis. Needless to say, it was a very long "cozy" night until Michael ended up kicking Odin and Isis out of the room.
Parker and Savannah took turns for their dinosaur friends so they could use all 4 playing pieces.
Porter enjoyed eating his Top Ramen while the kids played...
