Spring has sprung, so they say. My humans like the prospect of warmer weather, although I personally prefer a nice chill to the air. The flowers and trees are blooming and everyone is relieved that we all made it through another winter.

Spring is my busiest time of year. The other day I went into the yard to nose around, and could not believe my eyes: a king snake, right out in the open, in my yard!

Now, my humans like snakes, and I have never minded them, as long as they stay where they belong. But this guy was brazen: he had placed his door right at the bottom of the steps from the deck into my yard! So he and I had words. He was grumpy, I was grumpy. It was a standoff until he zipped into his hole and flipped his tail at me. That did it. I tore into his hole and quickly enlarged it to the size of a rather large beachball.

My humans were not amused. What on earth are you oh, no, look at you!

I looked down and admired how the red clay clung to my paws. That stuff is great, and has terrific staying power! My humans dragged me back on the deck and went in to get soap and towels.

I saw the snake poke his little head out of the hole and I just could not help myself, I crashed through the gate to get at him. The nerve of that fellow! I had to be forcibly removed from the now gaping hole. Then I had to have a bath, and when my feet stayed red, they took me to be bathed by the professionals at Landrum Vet. Now I am back to my usual color.

My humans had a new gate installed by a very nice man, and while he was putting up the new gate, they gathered really big rocks and put them into the hole so that the snake could still get out but I could not get in. Hmph.

The herons are back in town, choosing their nesting sites. They sit on top of very tall trees and look around to see if any of their rivals are about, and if they are, they make a loud quacking sort of noise and fly off slowly to chase the other birds, and they fly right overhead. This infuriates me. I have a specific no fly zone that I enforce around the house, and generally the herons respect it (unlike the vultures that I have to warn, loudly, nearly every day). But during nesting season, they pay no attention to the rules. (Neither do the helicopters. Hmph.)

And then there are the real honkers, the Canada geese. They make the strangest noises, not really like birds at all, but more like an old jalopy. As long as they fly down the valley, I am fine but if they try to invade the no-fly zone, they better watch out!

To top it all off, I was told that I woke the entire house (and probably most of the neighborhood) the other night when I heard the coyotes down at the river, yipping and howling and having a good old time. It makes my blood boil! This happens every spring, too! I had to let them know that they are not welcome in my territory. I may have to break through another gate if they continue all this noise.

But I am not the only busy one this spring! The shelter will soon be bursting at the seams with animals needing homes. There are already a lot of them, and now that kitten and puppy season is nearly upon us, things will get very crowded, very quickly. Hopefully, the Fabulous Fosters will decide that the each need a little young life in their homes, as I have personally put down my paw at our house.no more kittens!

And we all know that I am in charge of all I survey at least I like to think I am.

Happy Spring!

WOOF!

Champ