a pet guinea pig casualty on my watch
*warning: do not read if you are eating or have a weak stomach!*
[shudder] Well, I babysat yesterday afternoon/evening and all went well, UNTIL...dun dun dunnnn. The dog got the pet guinea pig and it did not end well. The kids & I had gone to pick up a Pizza Hut cheesy bites pizza (Pizza Hut didn't deliver to their house, but they HAD to have cheesy bites pizza)! We didn't put the dog in the parents' room--he is in there during the day, but they leave him out if they'll be gone short periods of time. Still, in hindsight, I wish we had done that. We still have no idea how he got in the room (the door was closed) or the cage.
We came back and the dog came bounding down the stairs with--what, is that a sock in his mouth? NO, I wish! He dropped it at our feet and looked proud, as if to say, "look what I caught!" I said "oh my God" about 20 times and we went to the kitchen to collect ourselves. Grossly, the dog followed and shook his head, and some wood chips from the cage shook off. GROSSSSS!! The kids were surprisingly calm--they hadn't had Napoleon (the deceased) that long, and I guess they were still forming an attachment. I went back to the foyer and laid some paper towels over him, and the kids helped me find an empty shoebox to put him in.
The oldest (10 yrs), Nick, was so sweet--he asked me if I needed any help picking him up.
Awwww! I told him no (they'd had enough trauma!), I've got it, and sent them to watch TV. What I really wanted to do was call someone to do it instead of me--and if Steve still lived in town, I certainly would have called him! I got some paint supplies (scoops, etc) from the garage that looked disposable, and scooped him up. Thankfully, it was all very clinical since he was covered by the paper towels. The rest was fine--I swept up the wood chips and cleaned the floor (thankfully it was hardwood, not carpet).
The dad was great about it too. He told me that terriers were bred to catch rodents in farmhouses--this is their thing! Also, this happened before with a hamster of theirs.
Still--UGHHHHHH! I definitely came home to take a shower! [shudder]
posted by Lauren @ 1:30 PM
2 Comments:
"Thankfully, it was all very clinical since he was covered by the paper towels."
You crack me up. =)
I'm sorry you had to deal with that... I wouldn't have done well either, though if Jack's not around and I know I'm the person who has to pick up the dead bug or the wiggly lizard or whatever in our house, I can generally get up enough courage to do it. Dead rodents, though, I'm not sure about. Thanks for not describing any more of the gory details. Adventures in babysitting, eh?
Omigosh! That sounds terrible! I still can't get over the fact that this had happened before and yet the family still got another small rodent! Sheesh. Hopefully they won't do it again.
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