Amanda the Great by Amanda El-Dweek for May 24, 2022

Once you name it, it is yours.

uhhh … that’s the scientific name I presume???? o_O

A suitably grandiose title.

Yeah, I named the two large black rat snakes that hang out around our place. Of course, there could be more of them cause they all basically look alike but we usually only see one or two at a time. Big Guy and Littler One…not very original tho.

There was a chipmunk who would sit outside the window on the deck railing and bark, just to taunt the cats inside.

Now there is a cat outside, and no chipmunks taunting the inside cats.

Soon he’ll bring his sister, Rafaella Gabriela Sarsaparilla, and his BFF Albert Andreas Armadillo (No relation to the Sarsaparillas.)

No matter how hard you wish, you’ll never get that tiny cute sweater on it.

Just make them part of the tour.

Um, Amanda? In panel 3, the word is “fazed”.

Just how does one pronounce the last of its 3 names?

Yes, but what are Rufus’s pronouns?

So, no rhinoceros hang out on your back porch? ; )

He must be an old-timey doctor or pharmacist. “Rx Sarsaparilla”.

All the Moochimals (aka visiting wildlife who like the feral cats’ food) have names. One raccoon was Little Girl Kitty because she knocked politely on the back door for her daily mini powdered donut, another was Mark Spitz because he did laps in the kiddy pool and the possum was Polly Pocket…

Behind our previous house was a hillside to steep to build on. The next street up was about 20 feet above us. There was a ground squirrel colony on the hillside. We loved to watch them. They’re, like most rodents, very busy. There are guards posted at many holes. Others scamper around the surface and then go back in. Sadly the HOA and the city, um, abated them due to a fear of erosion. We still miss them.

Where I used to live, there were marmots who lived along the river bank behind a supermarket. They would come up and eat the bedding plant the store sold outside in summer. Much tastier than dry old grass. Marmots? Like groundhogs, somewhere between “critter” and “varmint” depending on who you ask.

There’s a shed in my neighborhood that has been home to generations of ground hogs since the ’80’s sometimes with mothers and cubs.