I’ve written movingly and at great length about my old adversary, the squirrel.
Well, OK, maybe just at great length.
I’ve never before shown this villain in action.
If you’re wondering about the link on “my old adversary,” it’s to a clip from “The Hunt for Red October.” Check out the 1:00 point of Captain Ramius’ address to his submarine crew.
Well, if you will put temptation in front of a hungry squirrel, eating is the obvious result. Lovely video! (Perhaps squirrels are always hungry.)
Yes, squirrels are always hungry. John has been sitting in the woods (painting) for 9 years now and feeding them bushel after bushel of nuts in their shells. So many he has influenced the size of the red squirrels and the size of their litters. They recognize him, push at his shoe, stare him down, or rattle their dish (on a rock) to get his attention for MORE!!! But, before they take them, they briefly smell them to see if they are OK.
Sometimes they will stop to eat one, sometimes right on John’s boot, so at ease with “Dr. Doolittle”. Terribly flattering, he says.
One hollow tree, where a pair (?) stored these nuts must have been full up to the six-foot mark where their hole was.
Barbara – Maybe John would like to come feed the squirrels in my copse, the better to keep them away from my trees and bulbs.
Judith – I don’t mind them eating the berries off this bush; I draw the line at them eating the flower buds off my magnolia tree. My line has about as much effect as presidential ones . . .
An American newspaper reporter wrote that the terrible flooding in Houston was “unpresidented” !! (Wish we could unpresident T. His behavior is unprecedented, and I suspect it’s only the beginning…
Barbara – LOL. That’s someone who knows a word only from hearing it, I expect.
The music is PERFECT, as is its timing when the squirrel jumps. 😀
Barbara – Thanks! That was about 95% serendipity. I just avoided messing it up!
To me, red and grey squirrels are kinda cute. Black squirrels are nasty-looking rodents with teeth that would make a beaver back away. But they have long memories. One year we fed a squirrel who was obviously nursing a family. We called her “Mama.” About a year later, we saw parade of squirrels chasing over the power lines across our back yard. “I wonder if one of those is Mama?” I said aloud. One of the squirrels, only one, immediately dropped off the line and ran up to our patio. I can’t prove it, but I believe she heard her name and responded, like a good Pavlovian.
Jim T
Jim – Maybe you’d like to adopt the family living in our woods. I’d be happy to send them if someone else will catch them.