IN MY BACKYARD

This is my first official post.  You have been warned!  Let me set the scene for you a couple of weekends back.   Friday night, 10:30pm and The Royal Canines (Mr. Frodo & Jake Man) begin barking.  Since we live in the country this is not a strange incident.  All manner of wildlife will peak the interest of The Royal Canines, but this bark was a warning that Satan has been unleashed in our backyard. 

The King is asleep and must rise at 4am for work, this is not my current concern since this is the man who would have slept through Hurricane Hugo, had I not awaken him to move to the basement.  My view from the kitchen bay window shows The Royal Canines up on the back fence obviously trying to scare the Jesus in to something that was about to invade their Ponderosa.  This goes on for 10 minutes and the third Royal Canine (Mr. Rat Dog who lives a privileged life inside our home) joins the ruckus.  It even attracts the attention of The Princess who dares to break from her two connections to the outside world, the Internet and cell phone, to help me investigate.

Beyond our backyard fence lies a pond on the neighbor’s property, this is about 60 feet from my bedroom windows.  You can see that sleep will not be forthcoming anytime soon.  The Princess and I spy from the back door window that two men are walking around the pond carrying a lantern near the ground.  Have they lost something?  Is this really an effective time to look for something?  Are they unsavory characters?  Not to fear The Princess has her current love The Duke of Honda on the cell phone for our protection.  We continue watching for a few minutes until we decide that they are watching us in our PJs watching them from the back door.

In my motherly wisdom, I deem that they will find the lost item or give up soon…all will be well and The Royal Canines will sleep soon.  Let me admit, I was wrong.  Not only did they not leave, but they were joined by two more men driving trucks, delivering equipment of some sort to aid in their search.  

In the almost two decades I have lived here never has this body of water attracted this much attention.  This melee with The Royal Canines continues for two more fun filled hours.  Sleep was not to be for The Queen tonight, did I mention The King had yet to stir from his chamber?  Added to spirit of the hunt was a million powered spotlight that lit up the bedroom as if the Coast Guard was searching for a lost boat.  This is an exciting night on the Ponderosa.

Finally, The King is stirred from his chamber (due to a nature call, not the incessant barking) and receives the report of nefarious activities behind the house.  We advised HRH that the men have lost something and are using what looks like poles to find the missing item.   The King decrees that the men are frog gigging.

Excuse me?  Although I grew up in California, I know of this concept.  I have never participated, but am aware of the general idea of this southern pasttime.   During summer we have lots of visits from frogs and their sounds add to the Southern atmosphere from our porch.  To my knowledge, no one has ever hunted amphibians in this pond for almost twenty years.  Why has this pond now drawn the attention of four grown men?  The Princess and I decide the following:

• Our neighbor is bringing back a lost art?
• The frogs have experienced a population explosion?
• Neighbor was hungry at midnight and out of meat?
• Deer hunting season ended a few months ago and the men are bored?

Believe me when I tell you, the last one is most likely the instigating factor for hunt for amphibians sixty feet from my bedroom window.  Since I am unfamiliar with the actual practice of frog gigging, I researched the particulars.  Basically, you drive to a body of water armed with a flashlight and frog gig.  Sneaking up on unsuspecting amphibians, you blind the frog with the flashlight and the plunge the business end of the gig into to the unsuspecting frog.  The frog’s fate is then sealed. 

So my question to the amphibian hunters sneaking around my back fence, how do two hundred pounds of barking Royal Canines add to your covert activities?  Not to be deterred these men have returned two other nights in the past few weeks to repeat this process. 

Pray for me, as The King is sleeping through the night.  Pray that the neighbor does not commence some sort of commercial amphibian safari from the pond as extra income.

My advice to the amphibian hunters, bring dog treats to The Royal Canines and The Queen may bring you cake!