Shall we take bets?

Before we went on vacation I noticed that one of the two inflatable rings on Liza's kiddie pool had deflated. Given how often it has been moved, that wasn't surprising, and I figured the next time I used it I'd just patch it up with one of the 146 patch kits we have floating around in the garage.

I hauled the pool out yesterday, cleaned it off, and inflated both of the rings so that I could locate the source of the problem. I never did find the leak, although I did determine that it's large enough that a fully inflated ring loses half its air in less than an hour. The remaining ring was enough to keep the sides of the pool (mostly) upright, though, so I filled the pool and let Liza splash around for an hour yesterday evening.

This morning I was surprised to see that not only were both of the pool rings deflated, the pool was completely empty and the innertube was flat as a pancake, too. Whaaaa?

Half a dozen holes, some the size of my hand, in the bottom of the pool. The drain plug pulled out and ripped off of its tether. A (never found) hole in the bottom ring so large that part of the pool water drained into the ring and is stuck inside.

I'm guessing that the recent lack of rain has something desperate for water, and maybe it got stuck inside once it jumped in to have a drink. Now, the only question is: Woodchuck? Skunk? Cat? Falcon? Owl? Deer? Raccoon? Nocturnal squirrel? Evil redneck neighbor? Wolverine*?

Whatever the answer, it looks like we'll be hauling out Liza's baby pool from last year (and draining it and putting it away every time we use it), at least until I find enough change in the couch to buy a new one on sale at Target.


* Ohio State's main sports rival is University of Michigan, whose mascot is the wolverine