Update from the Squirrel Farm

I considered having "Squirrel Sundays" and then realized I just wouldn't be able to maintain even that sort of posting schedule. I'm sure you want an update on how the little buggers are doing, though. While I don't have cats to provide me with an endless supply of camera fodder, squirrels do an adequate job with perhaps equally zany and destructive behavior. Not all of them are as laid back as the fellow above.

This little guy, and I do mean comparatively little, seemed particularly perky. When I first put pieces of dried corn out there, many of the squirrels were terrified by it. They'd sneak closer and closer and then jump back as if it had bitten them. In contrast, this brave youngster chowed down on this thing for at least an hour.

As you can see, if you look closely, some of the kernels are getting stuck between the cracks, because the squirrels are good at making a mess. Guess what happens when the cob is gone? It's time to go after the remaining stuck kernels. While you may suspect they store all kinds of picks, power tools and straightened coat hangers in their nests, they decided instead to use their non-precision teeth for the job. I should have taken a photo of the aftermath with the piles of wood splinters everwhere, but I was too busy yelling at them. Yes, this morning (Pacific time), I opened the door and yelled at the cute, furry, poor and not-so-defenseless squirrel, who happened to be gnawing when I noticed. Of course, I immediately felt guilty.

Just a few minutes later, I noticed that another young squirrel had decided to climb all the way up to the second row of my bedroom windows. Once it got to the ledge, it seemed very upset and didn't know how to get down and I don't think it could have climbed onto the roof from there. You can see where I've circled it in the photo above. Eventually it jumped into the bush below, an Osmanthus fragrans.