The gopher trail is now on top of the berm, roughly two feet from the water. I stumbled across it yesterday and felt physically ill for a few seconds. I hate the thought of using that trap so the only alternative is to shoot it. Bill has a 22 rifle and has shot plenty of other animals over there, so I told him it had tunneled almost to the water and asked if he would shoot it some morning (they have a fairly predictable morning ritual). He said there was no way it would dig into the water, and so what if it did and as he rattled off reasons why he wouldn't be doing that particular thing I suddenly realized that he is too old and worn out to deal with frivilous things, and the pond or what plagues it is now one of those. He is not much older than I am but I am in perfect health, have never hurt myself or been hurt, and have never been responsible for anything until the dog adopted me three years ago. Even three years ago he would have been up and in position before sunrise, and eliminated the gopher as soon as its head cleared the hole, but that was a car wreck, a son-in-law, and a severely dislocated shoulder ago. I guess it is the little things that eventually kill. Still, I might let him rest for now, but we have too much to do for him to get to give up.