Vespa's mud bath

Every now and then, Vespa enjoys a good meal of worm and bug in the great outdoors. Sometimes, she's a lucky pup and happens upon a worm or slug that has found its way to the middle of the driveway at an inopportune time... when the concrete decides to dry. It is then that the earthworm or slug will eventually wither and wilt and dry and become tough. Chewy. A premium, all-natural pup chewie. And Vespa just loves them. And I love them because they're small enough to be chewed and swallowed in one piece without being a terrifying choking hazard.

It was one beautiful, sunny day last week when I decided to open the sliding glass back doors and allow Vespa to explore her turf "on her own" for a while. I was scrubbing a sink load of dishes and pots and pans and cookie sheets at the sink and could watch her through the window, just in case she decided to chase after any pesky roaming neighborhood cats.

After about 30 minutes of freedom, I decided to grab the camera and see what I found Vespa up to on her outdoor explorations. Mostly, she'll be treeing a squirrel or sniffing at pinecones and sticks. But on this day Vespa was into something much more interesting! She had discovered a bug that was flopping around in a muddy puddle right in the middle of the back yard. And, what do we do when we discover a bug? We roll around on it. We rub all over it. We especially get it around our neck and behind our ears... you know... so we can savor it, and save a little of it for later. It dries especially well when suspended behind a loose-fitting collar, in case anyone was curious.

Here she is, sniffing the air and assessing the situation before delving into the muddy puddle of grossness:

Oh, she was caught rolling in the mud and she knew it was gonna get her into biiiiiiiiig trouble. She immediately started her Trail-of-Tears-Death-Row-walk-of-shame up to the back deck for immediate scolding and stern talking-to. But wait a sec. Squirrel? Oh, yeah. Trouble.

Reporting for punishment with mud on the feet. Yuk!

It was so incredibly hilarious how she thought she was in trouble for rubbing on the bug in the mud. I usually freak out and yell in a freakishly loud and high-pitched voice because the thought of rolling on bugs to catch them on her neck just grosses me out! But this time I was just hysterical with laughter because she wouldn't look at me. At all. She completely avoided eye contact at all costs!

Tail down, ears back, eyes turned away: the only way to take on verbal abuse/punishment from Momma.

Squirrel??!!??? Oh yeah, I'm in trouble. Better stay here.

She still didn't make eye contact here! She just looked right past me and up into the sky. Which made me even more hysterical with laughter because of these squinty little eyes! How cuuuuuuute!!!

After a few minutes of consoling and petting on Vespa, she came around to realize that she actually wasn't in trouble. We decided to lie out on the back deck for about 10 minutes in the warm sun like turtles before calling it an afternoon and heading inside for a cleansing bath.