I watched a movie over the weekend called Eighth Grade written by Bo Burnham, whose this genius comedian/musician whose kind of on a whole other level of comedy… this movie wasn’t a comedy exactly though it was funny in parts… super awkward. I normally don’t like awkward movies but this one wasn’t like American Pie or Meet the Parents, it was a movie driven toward realism, like it could have been a completely true story down to nearly every detail. Hard to watch, but very very good.
But I was interrupted when I went to get a snack and looked out at my pool to see a couple struggling creatures in the deep end. So I raced out there, grabbed the pole skimmer and thankfully was able to pull out both chipmunks before they drowned. This is something about owning a pool that I just didn’t stop to think about, that it might just break my heart once in a while the harm that it can do to these tiny defenseless creatures.
This actually happened last week with a couple of frogs who were mating and trying to lay eggs in my pool. I found them in the skimmer basket, struggling to stay afloat. I fished them out and they didn’t hop away immediately so I asked ChatGPT what to do, and it told me to pour lukewarm tap water on them to wash off the chemicals, put them in a box and warm them up but I dunno, I just didn’t feel right about bringing them inside, so I washed them off and kept an eye on them and after 20 minutes or so they worked up the strength to hop away. Or I guess the female hopped away, carrying the male on her back. Thankfully ChatGPT was smart enough to suggest a long-term solution, which was to purchase a few small animal escape ramps, which I immediately did, but I chose the slower, more environmentally friendly option on Amazon instead of using two day shipping, so I had not gotten them yet. I’m going to be thankful when they arrive and I don’t need to be quite so diligent about checking on my pool.
So again, ChatGPT suggested I put the chipmunks in a box with a hot water bottle, bring them in and warm them up, but again, I dunno, it just seemed like that could make it worse, especially if they got out of that box and ran into our cat. So I dried them off as best I could with some napkins and filled a ziploc bag with hot tap water, thinking I could place them on it to warm them up, but then I just wasn’t sure I should be actually picking them up, afraid again that might make it worse. Don’t think they would have had the strength to bite me or anything. I hung out for half an hour or so, I guess just to prevent a hawk from getting them or something until they finally worked up the strength to walk away. One went into a hole at the edge of my pool. Hopefully the other did too. I’m guessing they both came from the same place anyway.
This happened last year, near the end of the season. I was swimming and looked over to see a chipmunk struggling at the edge. I fished him out and he lay there trembling but ran away after only a minute or two.
I’m not sure why this issue isn’t really talked about when it comes to pool ownership. Maybe everyone else has a retractable cover or other enclosure or an above-ground that the animals can’t really get to.
It was just like this sudden, out of the blue emotionally intense experience, seeing those animals trembling, laying there, repeatedly struggling to get up and move but failing. I’m assuming they were terrified but I think the trembling was mostly from the cold. My pool does kill a whole lot of worms and insects but it’s different for some reason when it’s something with a face.
It makes you really think about our place in the world and in nature, how far human beings have come, how we mostly live in the lap of luxury and near total safety, and how wildly different we are from the other animals on this planet and the responsibility we have to them.