the thing in the pond

Monday morning we woke up to find a creature in our fish pond--a furry, piglike desert creature--the infamous javelina. the desert animals come to our pond to drink early in the morning, and well, this one was overly ambitious or else nudged in by a fellow, but somehow, the footing was lost... i was awakened  by thomas telling me what he had found as he got ready to haul it out of the water. it was still alive, but when i groggily bumbled out of bed to take a peek, it was clear that this creature had no fight left in it except just to keep its nose above the water! at first thomas tried to push it out with a rake, and the blobby little guy didn't even struggle or move! when he let it sink back down to go get his shovel, i felt such compassion for the poor thing--i understand the feeling--not going under again? thomas lifted the soggy boarlike fellow out with a huge heave, and he lay there totally exhausted and helpless. then, cause he was still on the edge of the pond, we pushed him over to the sand. he was shaking miserably. he stayed there just huddling in the sun, not able to move--a few times he tried to get up, but was shaking so badly that he could not coordinate his limbs; it was actually rather funny. an hour later, though, when thomas tried giving him some old apple, he was so uninterested that he decided to get up and wander off into the desert. that night we encountered the herd near our house again, and i am sure he was among them...

enjoy the video.