Doubles

Today is Friday, and the start of my "long weekend". After a couple hour nap, and picking up my truck from some preventative maintenance (gotta keep my wheels running) I decided it was a wonderful afternoon to get out with my bird. He's been mews bound for a couple days, as my back to back 12-hour shifts often make it difficult for me to have energy to get out, and it's been very wet and gloomy lately. Today the clouds broke and the Texas sunshine was warming up everything . . . A good day for a refreshing walk outside, exercise for us both, and hunting. I accepted the open invitation from a co-worker, a nurse at the hospital I work at, to come out to her property and hunt rats. She and her companion have a beautiful Texas "ranch" about 30 miles outside of Abilene that they share with several doggie and kittie friends. Rats are sometimes a problem for them, as they get inside stationary vehicles and buildings and build nests, and chew wires. I was encouraged to catch as many as I could, and to come back. They both came out with me as we walked into the cactus "garden" just outside their home. With little searching we found the first nest, and after a short effort had the first rat. Because this happened so quickly, and the opportunity was there, I decided to go for "doubles" . . . . try for a second rat. I traded Cimarron off on a piece of meat in my pocket and let him finish that up. He then hopped to the fist, and we were off again. It took a little longer to find the next nest, and it was tucked into a pretty large patch of cactus. However, that didn't prevent us from popping out a second rat, which Cimarron caught by the butt. Our audience was quite impressed with the performance. I let him finish his crop up on the tasty inner parts, saving enough for a tasteful picture. This is rats #7 and #8. He was put away with a good stuffing, and I went inside to visit a little longer. Thank you Bettie for the invite. I'll be happy to come out again with my little boy to catch some more of those rats.