This morning I went down to the hay house (nee craft shack), and as I was loading a bale of hay into the truck, I saw something furry on the side. Thinking it was a mouse, I naturally shrieked like a little girl. Then I realized it wasn’t alive, and I was safe.

Stopping at the barn, I grabbed a stick to try and pull it off, since I didn’t really want to touch it. It was reddish brown, and furry, and I could see bones (claws?) sticking out. But it was in there solid. Obviously, it was baled with the hay in the field.

So I fed the sheep, and separated out the flake of hay, and brought it up for Cabol to see. You could tell once the hay was opened up that it had a good sized spine. We had to go to work, and on the way debated what it might be. It was the wrong color for a groundhog. Or a raccoon. If it was a squirrel, I’m locking the doors at night. There was no giant tail for a fox.

Tonight we had time to look at it more closely, and position it so it was in a more natural shape. I was still confused, but Cabol figured it out right away. The white spots gave it away. And the little white tail. And the hoof.