Backyard Adventure

A couple of weeks ago, N. was playing in the back yard with the neighbor boys, H. and C..  They had found a toad and they were having a great time studying it.  Usually, when they play in the back yard the game eventually devolves into some sort of sword play with large sticks.  This time however, things were much calmer and, consequently, the parental oversight was a bit less vigilant.  After watching them watch the toad for a few minutes, I went inside and sprawled out on the couch.  I had the window open so I could hear if the dynamic changed outside.

Mostly what I heard was a discussion about the toad.  There was talk about building it a habitat out of a cardboard box.  Then, a bucket was suggested.  This led to a conversation regarding whether toads needed water and what they ate.  In the end, I was pleased to hear them decide to release the poor creature back into the wildness of our garden.

After that, I can't say I remember much of what they did.  I guess I dozed off a little bit.  The next thing I remember hearing is my wife asking me, "Did you hear what he said?  He said something bit him!"  I was still shaking off my brief nap when N. came in holding up a finger.

It seems that after the toad was released, the boys became concerned that our cat might hurt it.  So, they began to keep close watch on the cat.  The cat did not notice the toad.  It did, however, find some other critter in the yard.  We're still not sure what it was, but based on the description from N., we think it was a shrew.

The boys did not want the cat to hurt the shrew so they tried to protect it.  They ran enough interference that the shrew was able to escape the kitty and crawl under a plastic toy for cover.  N. was worried it might be hurt and he put his hand down to lift the toy.  And that's when he was bitten.

As bites go, it was a pretty small one.  There was no blood and I couldn't actually see any wound without the aid of a strong magnifying glass.  A. took him to the Urgent Care clinic where they cleaned his finger and applied a couple of band-aids.  They also consulted the rabies hot line and informed us that it was very unlikely that N. could have contracted that dreaded disease.  Even so, we were supposed to watch N. for changes in mood or behavior.

Watching a 7 yr old for mood changes is kind of like watching for mosquitoes on the back porch.  Eventually, you're going to see one, and then another, and another, etc..

He seems fine now.