Near miss

Today I was mowing our back field. It has grown to unruly heights, and since we don't yet have a beast to keep it under control (or a fence to keep the beast under control), I took it upon myself to take care of the mess of clover, dandelions, alfalfa and grass.

So there I was, rocking the sunglasses and Seth's hat (Sh! He doesn't know I borrowed it.), singing along with my iPod, driving the mower and enjoying the rare sunshine. I was just finishing the little strip of grass in the middle when something caught my attention. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement on the ground. I steered sharply to the right to avoid decimating one of these:


Seriously. I wasn't sure if I should cry or laugh as I saw it bolt away. Who would imagine that a yellow-bellied marmot would take up residence in our back yard? (Looks like I need to add it to the list of animal visitors to our property.)