One day my yard was full of activity. Things were jumping from tree to tree. Birds were flying away. The dog was barking really loud. I had never heard such a fuss from the animal kingdom in my side yard before.

I opened the door and stepped out on the porch. There set this big old feisty squirrel. He was running up and down the tree making such a fuss. My little Jack Russell was bouncing around like a ball trying his best to bounce up high enough to get ahold of that big fur ball hanging on the tree limb.

The animals were rushing and fussing all around the yard. Much to my surprise I went out a little further into the yard just in time to see a mommy duck and seven little ducklings swimming around in my pool.

Those little ducklings were just a swimming up a storm. trying to stay in line and keep up with the mommy duck. I watched as they washed off their little feathers and bobbed up and down in the water.

It was a Kodak Moment for sure. Especially because having them in the water really ticked off that big old squirrel, and the squirrel most definitely ticked off my dog Rusty.

I took Rusty inside so the squirrel would calm down. I thought maybe the squirrel would leave the ducklings alone and let them play and swim with their mommy. No such luck. That squirrel kept running out on the limb and hissing until the branch gave way and there he went into the water. Well, squirrels do not swim very well.

I went running back out there to grab the net to try and save the squirrel. Before I could get there, the mommy duck followed by her slew of babies pushed the squirrel to the side and he got hold and pulled himself up out of the water.

That was such a precious moment in nature that I almost cried. Here sat this big old wet squirrel. Even with all the ill hissing he had done to the ducks, they saved his life.

A few days later I put Rusty out like normal to soak up some fresh air. I heard him at it again. I went out to find the big furry squirrel hissing at him. The squirrel came within inches of him and the bottom of the tree. Right where Rusty's chain stopped.

I thought to myself that it was not good for that squirrel to tempt fate so often. I brought Rusty in and the next morning as I was going to meet the mailman, I heard him talking to someone. Well, it was not someone... it was something. There sat that big old squirrel on my mail box. He was hissing and not about to allow the mailman to touch the box. I took the broom and gave it a whack and it ran off up the tree.

The mailman laughed and teased me about my killer squirrel. I shared with him about how Rusty wanted to get at that squirrel so badly. I also told him about the ducks and how they had saved its life.

Every day for weeks that squirrel would menace the mailman. When I came out one day he even scared me and I couldn't get the mail. My husband said, "nothing a whack with a broom won't cure." Then he laughed at me.

He went to the door like a big brave soul. I kind of had the last laugh when the squirrel chased him back inside too.

Well once again that squirrel kept bugging the dog and once again rusty slipped off the chain and when the squirrel came down to tease him........it was the squirrel last time to tease.

That afternoon I found the squirrel pelt laying by the door. As if Rusty had given me a gift. I could not help but cry because I don't like to see anything in harm's way or to lose its life.

It was time for Rusty to move out to the farm. He needed a bigger place to run and I was not about to let him kill any more animals around me. So I gave him to a nice couple who loved and adored him.

My front yard was a neighborhood of animals. From the little ducklings and their mommy who saved the squirrel and gave him one more chance, to the dog that was tormented by the squirrel who never let up. Right until the day that the second chance ended and there was nothing left of the squirrel but a big furry pelt.

How often do we get another chance? Just to fall right back into the same routine? A routine that could cause us harm. One that could end our lives.
How often has someone come along like the family of ducks to push us to safety. Just in time for us to dry out and return to our own ritual of life that put us in harms way in the first place.

Rusty didn't mean to harm that squirrel... it was his nature. He loved to hunt. You could take him in the house and clean him up and make him a lap dog, but at some point he would follow his instincts.

It really takes something in life bigger than we are to help us change. Compassion can heal and it can kill. If someone is looking to change and they need a little helping hand, compassion heals. If someone is not ready and willing to change, compassion just covers the sin up until they mess up big time.

I wanna be the duck in this story. Not the squirrel. Not to mention the dog of instinct.

After losing several squirrels to the swimming pool. We decided to move it. Now it is back near the property line where the ducks are safe to swim and the squirrels can't fall in and drown.

Moral of the story: don't bug the duck who can help you swim. And don't blame the dog for the mess you're in. Especially if your own actions put you there in the first place.