On Saturday I relocated squirrel number nine.

Number nine, number nine, number nine… 

It’s been awhile since I relocated any squirrels. The birds had started eating the bait.

…number nine, number nine, number nine… 

And then the heat waves began, and I didn’t feel like carting the squirrels to a park in 90+ degree heat, so I stopped baiting the trap.

…number nine, number nine, number nine… 

But the weather got milder over the past few days… 

…number nine, number nine, number nine… 

…and I’ve been very annoyed at the current squirrels behavior. So I trapped numbers eight and nine two days in a row.

…number nine, number nine, number nine… 

I had planted oregano and thyme a couple months ago, and both of them were doing well.

…number nine, number nine, number nine… 

I even managed to clip a few sprigs of each of them for some salads. But then that particularly sassy squirrel decided to bury some of the peanuts that a neighbor puts out for it under the thyme. That’s right. Under the thyme. 

I had to keep re-planting the uprooted thyme several times, and each time there was less thyme to re-plant.

…number nine, number nine, number nine… 

Until all that was left was one measly sprig. And the tropical unrelenting Philadelphia sun took care of that. Gee, but I hate the heat. Maybe I would have been happier in Canada after all.

…number nine, number nine, number nine…