Oppressive heat has settled on the Pacific Northwest. I have lived here for over 30 years and I have never seen it hit triple digit numbers in my backyard consecutively. Yesterday, I drug out Kota’s old kiddie pools (there are three of them all have holes.) I stacked them up together, filled them with water and put the pool in the middle of my backyard. I put several large boulders in the pool so that the birds and other critters could get a much needed bath or drink. Our Little Creek is quite little- it is completely dry.
Last night, I woke up to these strange sounds outside.so I looked out the back window. Most of the motion detector lights were on by the barn, and the glow reflected the most amazing sight. There were several critters in the pool! A skunk was bathing, a racoon was washing his hands and a possum was perched on one of the boulders drinking.
I knew that my cell phone camera light wouldn’t carry that far, and if I turned on the porch light, these dehydrated critters would scram. So, Kota and I perched at the window for about 20 minutes watching this wild pool party taking place. Kota was a bit out of it- I had to take him to the vet yesterday as his allergies had gone up into another level. They have him on an antibiotic, a painkiller and prednisone as well as a special antiseptic spray for all his inflamed areas of skin. The pred makes him over-pant (just what he needs right now!) it makes him eat more and sleep more. I was glad he didn’t bark or react. From the look of the critters in the pool, they seemed to really be enjoying the exposure to the pool.
Today it is 111 degrees F and I have refilled the pool and added a few more rocks. I went out to check on the cats earlier, two of them were perched on the rocks drinking out of this pool. They have bowls of water all over the property but maybe they just wanted to get their feet wet.
We are supposed to continue with the hot weather all next week. At least the local wildlife know where they can come and take a dip without worrying about traffic when crossing the highway on their way to the river.
What a wonderful, feel good story! You were twice blessed- once for setting up the triple pool watering hole, and rewarded by seeing how much it is appreciated.
What a wonderful and compassionate idea. It really was a ‘wild’ party. I wonder if the animals could smell the large amount of water or if they go through your property often and just found it. Our temperatures here are high this week (the high thirties in Celsius (about 100° Fahrenheit), so it’s not as bad as yours. A town in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, though, set a Canadian record with 47.5°C (117.5°F). You can tell that to other Americans when they say that Canada is always cold and snowy!
I hope Kota is all right now. The poor guy. As usual, you are on top of what your furry friends need.