Walker's Pet Sitting and Dog Walking

06/07/2026

06/07/2026

I WASN’T SWIMMING IN YOUR POOL.
I WAS CIRCLING A WALL I COULD NOT CLIMB.

You saw me near the blue water.

Small.
Dark.
Moving slowly along the edge.

Maybe you thought I liked it there.

Maybe you thought I had chosen your pool like it was a pond.
Maybe you waited for me to “find my way out.”

But I was not swimming.

I was trapped.

I am a toad.

My body is made for damp grass, garden soil, leaves, night air, and insects under porch lights.

Not smooth tile.
Not chlorine.
Not a deep blue wall with no root, rock, mud, or branch to hold.

I kept circling because every wild body searches for an edge that makes sense.

But your pool had no shore.

The water touched my skin.
The chemicals touched my skin.
My strength ran out one circle at a time.

Please do not leave me for morning.

Use a pool net, bucket, or container to lift me out gently.
Place me in a shaded, damp spot away from the pool.
Check the skimmer basket before turning the pump on.

And please give the next small life a way out.

A floating escape ramp.
A rough board.
A rope along the edge.
A pool cover when the pool is not in use.

Because I was not enjoying your backyard.

I was drowning quietly
beside a wall that looked like water
but had no way back to land.

Backyard pools can be deadly for wildlife because animals may fall in or mistake them for natural water, then be unable to climb out over steep, smooth sides. Humane World recommends escape devices such as FrogLog or Skamper-Ramp, and PETA also suggests ramps, ropes near the waterline, pool covers, and fencing to reduce drownings.

06/05/2026

It's hovering near your face. Black and yellow stripes. Looks like a wasp. You panic. You swat.

You just killed a hover fly.

It couldn't sting you if it tried. It has no stinger. It has no venom. It's a FLY dressed up as a wasp.

It's called Batesian mimicry. Hover flies evolved to LOOK like stinging insects so predators leave them alone. They're cosplaying as wasps. And it works so well that humans kill them by the millions thinking they're threats.

Hover flies (syrphid flies) are the second most important pollinators after bees. They visit as many flowers as honeybees. In some ecosystems, they're MORE important than bees for pollination.

And their larvae? They eat aphids. Hundreds per larva. Like lacewings, they're predatory assassins in the larval stage and gentle pollinators as adults.

Dual purpose. Zero risk to you.

How to tell them from bees/wasps:
2 wings instead of 4 (bees/wasps have 4).
Huge compound eyes that dominate the head.
No narrow waist — flies have a compact body.
They HOVER in place — bees and wasps don't hang in the air as precisely.
Short, stubby antennae (bees/wasps have longer ones).
They often hover right in front of your face — not aggressive, just curious.

What to do:
Stop swatting. It can't hurt you.
Plant flowers that hover flies love: yarrow, sweet alyssum, dill, fennel, Queen Anne's lace.
Tolerate some aphids — they sustain hover fly larvae populations.
Enjoy watching them hover — their flight control is one of nature's engineering marvels.

The insect you're most afraid of in your garden is the one that can't hurt you and helps the most.

Maybe let it hover.

06/05/2026

You've seen robins do this a thousand times. Stand on the lawn. Tilt their head. Pull up a worm.

"They're listening for worms!"

No. They're looking.

A robin's eyes are on the sides of its head. When it tilts its head, it's pointing one eye directly at the ground. Not an ear. An eye.

Robins have extraordinary visual acuity. Studies have shown they can detect the tiny soil movements made by a worm just beneath the surface. They see the disturbance in the grass. The slight shift of soil particles.

They can spot a worm's movements from 3+ feet away through a layer of grass.

Researchers tested this by putting worms in soundproof containers buried in soil. Robins found them at the same rate. Sound wasn't the factor. Vision was.

They can also detect color contrasts — the pink/gray of a worm tip barely protruding from dark soil is visible to a robin from yards away.

Why this matters for your garden:

Robins eat massive quantities of invertebrate pests — cutworms, grubs, beetles, caterpillars. They're not just eating earthworms (which are beneficial). They're eating the things eating your lawn.

A healthy robin population in your yard = fewer grubs, fewer cutworms, fewer pest insects.

What helps robins:
Short grass areas (they need to see the ground to hunt).
Leaf litter at lawn edges (foraging habitat for invertebrates).
Berry-producing native shrubs for fall/winter food — dogwood, serviceberry, winterberry, crabapple.
Mud puddles in spring (they need mud for nests).
No pesticides — poisoned insects poison the robin.

The next time you see a robin tilt its head, you'll know:

It's not listening. It's hunting. With eyes that see what you can't.

06/05/2026

📣Public Service Announcement!

*The Rushville Animal Shelter does not handle wildlife
Please refer to the Indiana DNR Rehab List for those who are licensed to do so:
Fish and Wildlife: Indiana DNR Permitted Wildlife Rehabilitators https://share.google/fMBYpUPicr4voRv5Z

06/05/2026

This Saturday and Sunday expand your kitten knowledge with Community Cats Podcast and National Kitten Coalition.

Can’t make it? You can still register and view sessions later.

“From neonatal emergencies to bottle baby burnout, feral kitten rescue to grant funding, this is the event for everyone who shows up for the tiniest, most vulnerable cats in our communities.”

Check out the speakers and sessions here: https://kittencoalition.org/2026-the-kitten-conference/

$75 goes to a good cause and helps you save more kitties. Value? Priceless!

June 6-7, 2026, online.

Register here: https://zurl.co/2026KittenConference