Something is missing

A number of squirrels are back.  The bums chase each other and the birds away.  

 

This one looks like a rat.  Notice anything peculiar? 

His/her tail is just a nubbin.  It will not grow back.  Sometime squirrels are in a bad fight or they have been attacked by a predator and lose their tails.   Their tails are useful for balance and for keeping them warm in the winter.  

The Juncos are back as are the Blue Jays...all are hungry. 

I had my eye appointment, he just wanted a second look at one eye.  I walked around grocery shopping with my sunglasses on.  I also got the RSV vaccination...so far so good. 

Far Side

Ah nuts!

 Far Guy heard some noises one night...he said it sound like an animal scratching in the laundry room.  We both looked around and didn't see anything out of the ordinary.  

One day I heard a sound like a marble was in the dryer...I found a dime!  Yeah me.  

Night before last I got up in the middle of the night and read my book ...I heard a scratching and a noise of something dropping... in the area of the dryer. 

I told Far Guy the next day...he investigated. 

This is the dryer vent with the cover removed...seems someone was squirreling away acorns for the Winter.  Apparently when the guys refinished the house they did not put the dryer vent cover on correctly and some critter could shove acorns in through a small gap in the bottom. 

Far Guy came inside and took the entire dryer vent apart...guess what?  Many more acorns...we vacuumed them up, reattached the venting and outside Far Guy covered the dryer vent cover with some heavy screen...because apparently this is a creature of habit and must be stopped from using the dryer vent as a storage area. 

It is either a mouse, a chipmunk or a squirrel.  My guess is a chipmunk. 

It took us half the day to get it all cleaned up.  Far Guy says the sound I heard was acorns dropping down the dryer vent when the area up top of the vent got too full... then the acorns ran down the dryer vent inside. 

Mystery solved.  Country living at its finest.

Far Side

Day Out

Today is our day out (1 1/2  hours or less) away from safety.  It is always an adventure to watch people in the parking lot while I wait for the grocery delivery...and then another adventure seeing what we didn't get.

Yesterday was a busy day we both worked in the woodshop/greenhouse for 3 plus hours and then we went to recycle a bunch of stuff.  We are making progress.

I sat outside after supper...pork chops and wild rice...and watched the fluffy summer clouds.

Watched a crazy squirrel eating the buds on one of the piss Popple  trees.

 The cloud behind him showed off his silhouette.
We need rain it is very dry.
Far Side

Squirrelly

I went from one project to another all day Sunday.   I have a bunch of afghan squares drying, laundry done, Christmas Cards dealt with (I save letters from year to year and most photos), and more stuff sorted upstairs.  The year 1927 is all done in the Farm Diaries and I began 1928.  Two years to go...the end is in sight! Maybe.
 

I walked around outside, it was sunny but much cooler than yesterday 37 F or 3 C was the high on Sunday.

Menus were made for the week and a grocery list complied.
After all we must eat to survive the Winter!  Just like this fat ole squirrel.

Far Guy is still very short of breath, if I had three eyes they would all be on him.  One day at a time.

Far Side

Quiet Time

I needed a bit of quiet time one evening.  I headed down to the lake to sit on the dock for awhile.

There is a very bossy Red Winged Blackbird there, he squawked and had a real fuss cause I was on his dock.

The air was heavy with smoke from the Canadian forest fires.  Not many people out on the lake...the big weekend is over....many are just weekend people.

There were still a few Blue Flag Iris in bloom.  

There is also a good amount of Jewelweed next to the dock, it will bloom with either an orange flower of a yellow flower...the stalk of the plant has a gooey sap that is a natural remedy for Poison Ivy rash.  We have a continual supply on hand in the fridge and Jewelweed soap.

Yesterday I mowed until my gas supply dwindled...I will mow some more soon.  The stupid freaking squirrels ate my old gas can and hopefully drowned in the gas that was trapped in the wheelbarrow...maybe they had a gas party.  Bought a new gas can and they proceeded to chew through that one too...so I bought two new gas cans from a garage sale.  I might need a metal gas can. Blasted squirrels anyways.

We woodcarved in the afternoon and visited with my parents.
Far Side

Tree Rats

We have way too many squirrels.

 

They are getting fatter and fatter and soon Little Elvis will be able to catch them when he visits.  The bums stole the chimney cover for this feeder…I will probably find it in the spring when the snow melts.

One morning I woke up…looked out the window and one was sitting inside one of the squirrel proof feeders…they had somehow knocked off the top.

Far Guy is a bit better, he had many naps yesterday. 

Far Side

SRP

Sometimes you just have to give in and do what is the least of two evils.  Relocation versus death.  Which would you choose? 

We chose SRP.

The Border Collie is part of the program.  It is his job to keep an eye on them after they are caught. Squirrels are nuisance critters.  The Squirrel Relocation Program is going well.  Five have been relocated to a place where there are trees and water…what more does a squirrel need…except for sunflower seeds.  I still think we should spray paint a spot on their back before we release them so we will know if they make it back to our yard.

It was either live trapping and releasing or a quick trip to squirrel heaven…I could have used the target practice…but my kind and gentle husband said “Let’s relocate some.” That is fine with me if I shot them I would probably feel guilty enough that I would have to skin, gut them and cook them up. ( Yes I have eaten squirrel and it was pretty good.)

The squirrels were leaping from the trees getting to the squirrel proof feeders, they hang by their feet upside down and gorge them selves with seeds.  It the meantime they break off my flowers.  We counted ten in our yard the other day.

The last one we released shot out of the cage like a bullet…I told Far Guy “If he runs that fast he will beat us home.”

Storm Clouds over the Hay and Pea Field in the distance on June 23 2015.

Innocent

You know the old saying “Innocent until proven guilty?” 

That does not apply to our squirrels.  We have about six of them. 

It is a war.  Me against the little bird seed sucking buggers. They were leaping out of the branches and landing on the feeders and getting their fill.  We trimmed the branches.  They were climbing the poles.  BUGGARS.  I read in Mother Earth News that Crisco on the poles would make the poles too slippery for them to climb.  That worked for a few days…it was so satisfying to watch them slide down:) Then they started running up a nearby tree trunk and flew through the air with the greatest of ease and most of the time landed on the top of a feeder…while they were up there they ate all the sunflower hearts. 

I purchased three squirrel baffles at $20.00 each.  You can add that up yourself.

The other day one used that solar light as a springboard to catch the bottom of the feeder on the far right and then pulled himself up and eventually flew through the air to one of the house feeders for the sunflower hearts.  BUGGAR.

No don’t go all squirrely on me, this guy/gal is a shameless thief. 

Chance does a good job of keeping them out of the yard, but it has turned too cold for him to be outside on squirrel patrol all day long.

I watch the squirrels from the kitchen and dining room windows.  Sometimes I open the window and holler at them.  They have gotten used to me rapping on the window…that used to scare them…not so much anymore.

My next step?  I am going to buy another feeder one that dumps them off…and see what happens then.  I am going to move that Solar Light and shorten the hanger on the far right thistle feeder. 

Last year our squirrels were well behaved.  I don’t know where this bunch of ill mannered hoodlums comes from.

This is a Black Squirrel he/she lives across the road.  Too bad he doesn’t become a sail squirrel running back and forth across the road all day long.

I am about at my wits end…I welcome suggestions.  We want to keep feeding the birds, and we don’t mind the squirrels as long as they stay on the ground:)