HelenB: The American punkah wallah union is notoriously ruthless in its wage demands, so we have a plug-in servant.
I patted the little dickens on the head for you, and he rolled his eyes in acknowledgement. We have a family of Eastern cottontails (endearing creatures, except when they're eating my pole beans) living in a hawthorn thicket in the yard, and I thought I might give him a thrill (and a bit of lung exercise) and let him sniff them out, but the excitement might be too much for him. I forget he's under the table; occasionally he thumps his tail and I think someone's at the door.