
Actually, the squirrels in our backyard don't look like this at all, but I found this picture by Red R out there on the internet and had to have it! He's just so chubby! (The squirrel, not Red R, unless Red R is the squirrel and this is a really nice selfie!). The tree actually looks a lot like our backyard tree though. Just saying, anyway...
Our friend the squirrel
I have a friend who sometimes comments here on my blog. You have to be pretty intrepid to comment here, what with the lack of response and everyone just sort of staring at your comment like it's in an aquarium or something- swimming around, back and forth, wondering how it got there, why everyone's looking at it and what the ocean is like. Being of a too nervous disposition to get all respondy to comments I nevertheless get pretty excited about them. "Look!" I cry to myself, inwardly, so as not to startle people nearby and make them think I'm crazy, "I got a comment!" It's a happy moment. It happens every two to five days, and sometimes it's because of Mdnez. No, Mdnez is not a squirrel! Don't worry. We're getting to the squirrel part. We're through with the aquarium part though, so we're halfway there.
Because Mdnez is an old friend I follow these enchanting photos he's always posting on facebook (if only he had a blog of them instead then I could show you!). He spends much time in some magic garden in some magic city in the south. There are exotic plants, a diversity of interesting animals, fascinating insects and flowers, a black cat, and just a lot to look at. But recently he had some harsh words for the squirrels. I think they were being disrespectful and wasteful vis a vis the pecans. I'm not sure. I am glad he is feeling his feelings. I even understand the anti squirrel sentiment, after all, I probably wouldn't be so keen on squirrels if they were serially misusing pecans in my yard. If I had pecans. Which I don't. I also don't have a lot of flowers. I don't have a black cat. No frogs. The birds are capricious. They'll visit and then, they just won't, for awhile. For insects we specialize in mosquitoes, yellow jackets, gnats and ants, but now that it's October it can get a little quiet with them too. Which, ultimately, brings me to my point.
I really like to sit out on my back stoop and watch nature. I do not have a single harsh word to say against the trees, and really there's quite a bit to look at. But it's nice to see a bit of wildlife scampering around entertainingly every now and then. These days, most days really, a lot of the time, that's going to come down to squirrels. Squirrels and just about nothing else. The gray squirrel, Sciurus Carolinensis. They like our oak tree. They're almost cute. They're pretty interesting. For awhile there they were dropping stuff on our heads, but I don't think it was intentional. It was hard to tell. They're around a lot. Our friend the squirrel. Well, it's what we got. I'll take it.
Gaaah... the century old tree has been getting surgeries to alleviate it's massive canopy because the thing has been hollowed out by invasive Formosan termites. And then, as this year's nuts begin to develop the vermine congregate and for over a month they make an orgy of waste. This crop would not have matured for a couple more weeks at least. So, now nobody gets nothing. Where were the local raptors during this outrage?!
ReplyDeleteHard as it is to add on to, or respond to this comment, and late as it is, I figure I should try:
DeleteI don't know where the raptors were, but I'm afraid a lot of them might be all "Just one mouse and I'm good for the night."
I don't think this will help really, but I have been quite the casual student of the urban squirrel and have to say that the way to kill squirrels is to have lots of cars racing through your yard.