Cannon Ball!!!

As many of you know, we've had some rather odd pets during our 2+ years in Mexico. In addition to the normal cats, dogs and rabbits, we've also had a boa constrictor and hamsters (not a very good combination, I must say), turtles, a horse, a pelican named Bill (only for a short time -- Man! They stink!!!), a wonderful North American Oyster Catcher (bird) named Sam, a 4 foot long iguana named Felicita and a 10 inch long iguana named Neo. The kids in Boca, realizing that we like animals, brought us a couple of additions last week. Check out Sarah's blog to read more about these little critters.

Today, the kids were playing in the pool when they were suddenly joined by another swimmer. Apparently, a fledgling barn swallow heard the splashing water and thought he'd get a little drink. He did a nosedive into the pool and couldn't figure out how to get out. Andrew rescued the poor, bedragled thing and brought him in to me. I dried him a little and then put him into a tree to finish "fluffing". That didn't last long, because the dog noticed the little guy and tried to "play" with him. Again, Andrew rescued him, and we put him in a basket in the house to finish drying.

Later, Andrew took him behind the house (away from the cats and dogs) to set him free. Little Guy took off for the trees, swooped around in a big arc and...plowed back into the pool. OK. Back to the basket.

Hours pass. The bird is dry. The sun is setting and all the other swallows are coming out for their nightly feast of mosquitos. So we take our little Dodo bird out behind the house -- away from the pool -- to set him free...again.

Unfortunately, we hadn't put the cover on the pool yet. He didn't even swerve, but took a bee-line directly to the pool!!! Splash!!!

So, he's in the basket. In the morning, we'll try again. This time, the pool will be covered!!! Just what we need -- another neurotic, eccentric pet.

UPDATE: (Thursday, June 19, 2008) Well, Little Swallow rested well through the night and apparently out-grew his unhealthy fixation with swimming pools. When Seth took him outside yesterday morning, Swallow shook his tail feathers and flew, well, like a bird. Kind of sad to see him go...I feel like we shared some good times. ;^)