`newlogoAug11.jpg (86438 bytes)        

 

Today in My History

2000:  Netstock Ends
2001:  Creative Juices
2002:  73 (lbs)
2003:  Call Me Sometime
2004:  I Want S'more
2005:  Musical Beds
2006:  
Killing Time Productively

2007:  It Must be a Good thing

2008: Less of Me
2009:  The Friend Meme
2010:  Taking Inventory


Bitter Hack
Updated: 8/4
"Camelot"


Books Read in 2011
 
Updated: 7/30
"Faith"


VIDEO OF THE DAY/WEEK


Dishwashers from Bev Sykes on Vimeo.

And on You Tube


Most Recent on My flickr_logo.gif (801 bytes)

San Diego


Mirror Site for RSS Feed:
Airy Persiflage

My Compassion Kids

Postcrossing Postcards

The Pen Pal Project

ProudElderblogger.gif (1358 bytes)


SQUIRREL WARS

7 August, 2011

squirrel.jpg (24846 bytes)It never occurred to me, until about the 1980s, that there were people in the world who never saw squirrels in the wild.

At that time our Brasilian daughter, Sonia, was living with us and I took her to tour Sacramento.  We walked the grounds of the state Capitol and suddenly she shrieked "esquilo!" as she looked out over the expanse of lawn and saw lots of squirrels hopping about.  Nothing would do but that we go and buy peanuts so she could feed them and she was thrilled that they ate out of her hand.  In Brasil, there are no wild squirrels; if you want to see a squirrel, you have to go to a zoo.

squirrelpkc.jpg (30124 bytes)Squirrels were also a big attraction when Peggy was here.  Her delight in finding them so accessible in the wild probably equaled mine when I first saw kangaroos lounging on the graves in the cemetery near her house.

No squirrels in the wild in Australia; no kangaroos in the wild in California!

I know that squirrels are supposed to be vermin, disease ridden, cute rat-like creatures.  Ask Rosie O'Donnell, who did whole segments on her show about how much she hated the squirrels around her property.  My distant cousin, Bill in Houston, spent days trying to find ways to keep the squirrels off of his bird feeders.  He hated those squirrels. But I've always found them fun to watch. They've never given me any problem.

squirrelcartoonsm.jpg (51434 bytes)Until the evil squirrel started terrorizing us.

Walt said he thinks it probably started after we returned from China

He would go out into the driveway at night and discover all sorts of branches covering the concrete.  At first he thought it must be a breeze blowing them down, but summer is not exactly "breeze time" in the Central Valley.

He would sweep the branches up and in the morning there would be more.

Then one day he saw the squirrel  It was high up in the branches of the tree, but it was apparently tearing off these clumps of tree and letting them fall down on the ground.

I wondered if these were squirrels gone bad and if this was the squirrel equivalent of punks t-ping our house.

squirrels-punks.jpg (150351 bytes)

Or is there something more sinister going on?

squirrel-wars.jpg (21143 bytes)

We're not sure how to stop it, but every morning the driveway looks like this

leaves1.jpg (45888 bytes)

Walt goes out and sweeps it all up.

Leaves2.jpg (54157 bytes)

An hour later it looks like this.

Leaves3.jpg (38168 bytes)

And the branches are starting to look like this.

Leaves4.jpg (46555 bytes)

Maybe I'll re-think that "cute little squirrel" opinion of mine!

PHOTO OF THE DAY

  squirrelprone.jpg (24571 bytes)

One thing seems clear.  The squirrel has laid claim to our
driveway and at the moment, he's winning the battle

(no, the photo was not taken in our driveway--would have been more effective it it had been!)

 

|

echo.jpg (1435 bytes)

<--previousnext -->

Journal home | bio | cast | archive | links | awards |  Flickr | Bev's Home Page
 


This is entry #4149