Wild America
Taking up about four acres of my mom's backyard is a scummy, snake-infested pond, naturally fed by an artesian well. The backyard between the house and the pond has been replaced by 20-years of brush growth and trees made topless by a tornado in 2008. The yard is also home to plenty of animals, domestic and otherwise. I once watched a mockingbird peck the crap out of a water moccasin trying to wind its way back to safety after, clearly, venturing too close to her nest. In the very back of the pond there is, and has been for a long time, a tiny, twiggy beaver lodge.
Yesterday, Mom and I drove to Little Rock to return a rental car and run some errands. We got back around 5 p.m. and noticed the dogs were acting a little weird. Finally, I could see Daisy's ear was a little torn up. I inspected and found more, bigger wounds all over her. Her hair was spiked by a dried-up goo I realized was blood. Milo was limping a bit, and also, under his shaggy fur, had a small hole in his head. We have a neighbor who's been shooting, randomly, and at first I thought they'd been hit. Mom said "Wait a minute, let me check for dead animals," and sure enough, in the backyard she found a beaver. It was dead, and looked like it had nearly been torn apart by two big dogs. (Not before he managed to pockmark their bodies with bites, of course.)
The dogs spent the night at the vet's, battle weary and drugged and washed and doctored. Last night about 2 a.m., the neighbor's dog started howling, and, when he wasn't met with an answer from Daisy and Milo, howled a little louder and a little sadder. I had a dream an army of baby beavers marched up from the pond to get us, avenging their mother's death. The dogs will be ok. I'd like to think they've learned their lesson, but I'm sure they'll just continue being dogs.
What I'm Writing:
Purely by coincidence, I happened to dig up a very old piece of writing, probably an English assignment from my junior year, about my pets. I've had a bunch. I was looking for my valedictory address, just to read it again, but can't find it anywhere.
Bonus Archived Writing:
The killing of Walter Scott by Officer Michael Slager, caught on video, is just the latest in a long season of police violence against unarmed black men. (Unusually, Slager was fired and charged with murder within three days.) I wanted to round up the essays and opinion pieces I've written about these kinds of cases. The first is about my years as an investigator of police misconduct in New York City. Next, I explained why people in Ferguson, Missouri, protested after a Grand Jury there failed to indict the officer who shot Michael Brown. I wrote about why I decided to protest after a Grand Jury failed to indict the officer who killed Eric Garner. The thing that agitates me most about these cases is how quickly and easily officers express fear, but they're supposed to be a tad bit braver than that.
What I'm Reading:
Speaking of police misconduct, The Trials of White Boy Rick, which you can read at The Atavist with a subscription or buy as a kindle single. On Walter Scott: How he fits into the history of South Carolina, whether we should watch the video at all, and on the consequences of broken taillight policing. This investigation into a California home for troubled children. Janet Malcolm tells you just what she thinks about your simplistic, sophomoric criticisms of Joseph Mitchell.
What I'm Watching:
Nothing, I'm saving myself for the premiere of Game of Thrones tomorrow.
Cute Animal Pic of the Week:
I'm not going to show you how beat up and bloody the dogs got. Instead, I will show you this picture of Daisy right after she came to Mom's and was, unbeknownst to us, pregnant with Milo (and Mouse, RIP.)
