[Misti1]

Last Tuesday, I almost died......for real......

Unfortunately we have the large storm drain in our backyard that runs of water from the 4 yards. All 4 sides of the drain are open, and of course, Miss Mika just LOVES that area of the yard. My daughter strung chicken wire around the thing and attached it to the wood fence, but of course, Miss Mika can circumvent anything.

So she is out using the bathroom and chasing air and she heads straight over there. I am watching her and one minute she is there and the next minute .

I ran over to the drain and could hear a whine coming from below. I called my daughter at work and she must have flown to the house. We searched frantically and called the fire department.

The dispatcher lady told me that they don't come out on animal rescues, but if we were to go to the station in person, they just might. My daughter returned a short time later with the entire fire department. It is now dark. They went down in the drain, but no MIKA....

They advised us to put food in the drain and go to bed. My daughter is now FURIOUS with me. I couldn't sleep and 3:00 AM found me driving the streets calling her name.

At first light the next morning we head out to the drain. The food bowl is empty..we begin to hope. Then my daughter hears a very loud whine.

She gets a ladder and goes down into the drain (she's a good mother), no Mika.

I am still up top (chicken grandmother) and suddenly I see something to my right that catches my eye. Mika pops her head up. She is tightly wedged between the storm drain and the wood fence. She had managed to get IN there but couldn't back up to get out. I instinctively grab her and start to pull, but she is in there too tight.

My daughter calls the firemen and the chief comes out in the fire van.

He manages to fold her legs up and pull her backwards the way she went in. Mika is fighting him the whole time trying to go forward, but we got her out.

When she was safely in my daughter's arms we went running to the house leaving the fireman behind. All I could think about was she was alive, and now my daughter won't hate me.

I hate to think of her stuck there all night, and it was COLD that night too. I hate to think of her out there alone in the dark, with WHATEVER ate that food right below her. Was she scared??? Did she think we had abandoned her/didn't love her????

So she is strictly leash now and I am having the metal shop cut some gage wire to go around the dreaded drain.


But this HAD to go down as one of the worse nights in my life.