Saturday, January 9, 2010

Red Squirrels

I always thought I'd like to live in an area with squirrels, until I finally did.
I don't know if it was this squirrel or if all squirrels are this way but the one in my neighborhood woke me up every day, at dawn. He was upset with something and it didn't seem to matter what. The neighbor's dog,kid,cat,car... anything set this squirrel off to a steady stream of chatter that sounded like a person swearing and it went on for hours.

I tried to plant a garden and it ate everything above ground, including peas and strawberries.

I put out a bird feeder and it argued and fought and chattered with all the birds including the hummingbirds, and you haven't lived until you've heard a Blue Jay and a Squirrel fighting over the birdfeeder.

The squirrel would jump onto the birdfeeder and guard it from all who may be interested, even when it was running with a mouth full, it would still find time to sit and chatter or swear at the birds.

I finally got smart,or so I thought, and hung the bird feeder on the clothes line, right in the middle of the yard, where the squirrel couldn't reach. That didn't stop it from trying. It would take wild leaps off the roof and land on the ground.

You would think he'd give up, but no, it just infuriated him more and he chattered almost non-stop as long as a bird was in sight.

One day, I was outside in my back yard when I noticed mushrooms hanging on the tree branches. I thought perhaps a family member, was playing a joke. It was the squirrel. It collected all the mushrooms in the area and hung them on the trees, until they were dry, then gathered them up for the winter. I didn't know they did that or that they even ate mushrooms.

We moved away shortly after spring arrived, and I missed the place but I can't say I missed living by a squirrel.

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