Nurturing Gone Wild

 

Hi evfurrybuddy! Welcome to another Tuesdays with Dori. I'm yoor host, Dori! *wavy paws* 

Today I am here to discuss a twagedy that my momma may not ever recover from. 

Yoo know how she had dozens of raccoons, and possums, and a few ground hogs at our house back in Southaven? For years she tossed peanuts and dog kibbies, and sometimes the neighbors would drop off leftover donuts and pizza- although I have yet to see any leftover pizza in our house cuz my daddy does not stop eating until the last piece is gone - out our back door to where the furry children of Mother Nature thankfully awaited their meals. It took her a couple years to wean the raccoons off of the free meals, but she did right before we moved last year.

Since we moved here to FloryDa Mom has pulled way back to feeding the critters. Mostly chopped apples to the deer. And now that winter is approaching - although winter here in the Land of Eternal Fweakin Sunshine is a joke compared to the cold and sometimes snow we got in Southaven - Momma has been tossing peanuts into the woods behind our house for the rabbits and squirrels.

Until this week when Daddy pulled Momma into the driveway, opened the hoods to both their cars and showed her the peanuts Sassy Squirrel has been stockpiling right on the engine. Not only that, but Sassy also chewed some of the insulation on the engine. Thankfully none of the wires were chewed, but Daddy said no more peanuts. Apples, okay. But not peanuts.

Now yoo know how my momma is. Since she's a storyteller, she's inclined to name the critters, and give them a backstory with a full arc as to their Goals, their Motivations and their Conflicts. 

When Daddy said Stop Feeding Them, Mom immediately felt bad about how Sassy thought he was all set for the coming cold months weeks days, having his peanut stash protected in a dark place that was warm, and where he probably slept each night.  And now that Daddy was putting stinky MOTH BALLS - who knew moths had big enough balls to be collected in a bag - under the hood to prevent Sassy and his wife and their bitty children from returning to their warm beds each night, where would their sleep? And would they starve because they are now denied their peanut stash?

First Mom can't feed the birds because the seed will attract roof rats - our neighbors have them and they are impossible to get rid of. And then the HOA removed the dock at the pond where everyone fed the turtles, mainly because of the alligator now living in the pond. And now no peanuts for the rabbits and the squirrels. All that's left are chopped apples for the deer, but lately the deer haven't been stopping by, so what's the point?

Daddy says Momma feeding the critters is Nurturing Gone Wild. Remember that year when she placed a board table in the yard and set it up for the raccoons to have Thanksgiving? Remember when she bought dozens of cheap sandwich cookies and the one raccoon named Sugarman twisted the cookies apart to lick out the cream center, then pitched the cookies aside to grab another for the cream center? Remember when the ladies at the Kroger all knew Momma bought the fifty pound bags of dog food because she was feeding a bazillion raccoons?

My question is... why does she need to feed wildlife when she has us, the Wonderpurr Gang? Are we not fulfilling her need to Nurture? Cod knows Wabbit needs more attenshun than the rest of us combined. If she would spend more time playing with him, maybe he would exhaust her and she would appreciate the rest of us who require only her warm lap, some brushing, a lot of petting and a higher grade of Fancy Feast because the cheaper pate stuff makes me kinda barfy.

That is all for this weeks Tuesdays with Dori. Please remember to go through Timmy Tomcat's blog to pick out your favorite post to honor Mister Pete on his birthday, January 31st. 

Until Next Time...