WTF nature...

Something had been digging in my flower bed every night last week, and it was driving me crazy.

Especially, after THIS INCIDENT.

I could tell it was large, and assumed it was a raccoon or possum.

It wasn't.

At four in the morning on Sunday, I heard a weird noise in the backyard. The dogs heard it, too, and went crazy. After Trevor confirmed it wasn't an axe murderer, I ran out the side front door and to the gate into the backyard to try to get a glimpse of whatever (I asssumed) had been digging in my abelia shrubs every night.

After all, knowing is half the battle, right?

Without much thought, I opened the gate and bolted into the backyard waving my flashlight around like a mad woman.

I didn't get very far before I heard a terrified hiss and something BIG moving around mere inches from my leg. The noise brought me back to my senses and I suddenly was very well aware of the fact that I had just charged into the backyard in search of a wild animal in my PJs and a pair of flip flops.

According to my husband, I screamed like a little girl, turned around and sprinted back into the front yard where Trevor was standing on the patio barefoot, wearing nothing but boxer shorts and staring at me like I had lost my mind.

I'm sure my neighbors thought someone was being murdered next door.

Whatever-it-was was still moving around on the other side of the fence, so I crept back to the gate and pointed my flashlight in the direction of said animal.

And you know what it was? A flipping armadillo.

WTF? I live in the middle of a big city. I'm used to seeing armadillos at the ranch, but I had no idea they hung out in my neighborhood digging holes in flowerbeds like little hoodlums.

Once I realized what it was, I just stared at it. Trevor had to lead me back inside by the hand because I didn’t know what to do except watch it from the gate and wish it would disappear.

Honestly, I think I was hoping my all-but-naked husband would read my mind and chase the blasted thing out of my flowerbed and away from the backyard. Unfortunately, as it turned out, he had no intention of doing anything except going back to bed.

Once Trevor finally led me back inside – he turned on the alarm. Not to keep bad things from getting in, mind you. But to prevent his pregnant wife from going back outside in the middle of the night to chase random bits of wildlife in our yard.

Update: I’ve also seen two rabbits in the backyard since Sunday. Don’t know when my yard became such a hangout for nature, but it is getting a little out of hand. My flowerbeds have had enough stress this year without being eaten by cute, woodland creatures.