Maison Newton: Heart, Hearth, Home...
Showing posts with label squirrels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label squirrels. Show all posts
Friday, August 16, 2019
Jif Peanut Butter Commercial - So Good You'd Dress Up Like a Squirrel for It
I love this! Looks like my yard when I throw the hazelnuts morning and evening - but so far, no guys with a squirrel mask have shown up...
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Two of My Squirrels
Hola everyone!
Will spring EVER come? A week ago Monday I was basking in 70 degrees F; today it's threatening snow, and will be in the 30's all week. Sigh. After our brief week of warm weather (2 weeks ago), though, all of the snow and ice have melted from my yard, YAH! And the sump pump, which had kicked in two weeks ago Sunday, finally stopped its non-stop running five days later. It has cycled on only a few times since, so I know the ground has dried out after the foot and 1/2 of snow melted from the front lawn!
Now all the lawn services are going around door to door in the neighborhood trying to drum up business. They do NOT understand the meaning of N-O!
As you know, I'm a squirrel nut. I feed an entire tribe of them all year round. About a month ago, on a very sunny but bitterly cold day, two small squirrels showed up in my backyard. I could tell they were not regulars of the tribe because they were very thin and scrawny looking, and both of their tails were rather bedraggled. My heart immediately went out to both of them. I stood at my patio door and watched as they searched for food. One could barely move and was either very sick or injured, although I could not see exactly where or what its injury may have been; I thought perhaps it had the "tipping" disease -- that's what I call it -- I think it is a brain disease that affects a squirrel's balance; the other squirrel passed right by hazelnuts and peanuts, as if it couldn't see them. And then it dawned on me after watching for awhile, that little squirrel could NOT see. It was blind!
I very carefully opened up the patio door and rolled more nuts out, trying to get them as close to the newcomers as possible. The blind squirrel walked right over some of them, but once I hit in in the rump with a hazelnut he turned and was able to find the nut! My other, healthy fat squirrels tolerated their presence; normally the healthy squirrels will chase each other away if it looks like one is getting too greedy with the nuts or is attempting to move into the territory.
I had not seen a blind squirrel before -- could not even imagine that such a thing was possible -- how could a blind squirrel possibly survive in the wild? He actually got close enough to me, barely a foot away as I was kneeling down at the patio door attempting to roll nuts into its little paws, and I could see that its right eye was white-opaque -- maybe a cataract, maybe blind in that eye from birth? No way for me know. I named him Blinky, for it appeared that the right eyelid would droop over the blind eye as Blinky ate.
The other little squirrel that was either sick or injured (or both), did not come close enough for me to get a good look, but after about 10 days I was able to get some photos of him as he visited the yard and rummaged for peanuts (his preferred food over hazelnuts) and sunflower seeds:
The photo above was taken on March 12th, when the thaw was in progress (that's my back patio -- it was a mess). You can see the little one's injured left shoulder, the matted fur, and the wizened left leg and paw, but he has become chubby thanks to my food supply! I named him Intrepid, Treppy for short. It's just amazing to me that an animal could survive such a severe injury; how intrepid this little fellow must be. You are not able to see it in this photo but I could see where his skin has been torn open/pierced and the remains of dried blood -- along with the matted fur, I believe his shoulder/leg muscles were severely injured and he will be permanently crippled.
Over the next days Treppy and Blinky visited often. They may have come every day, but I did not see them every day. Slowly but surely, they got plumper, and Treppy is now moving around much more like a normal squirrel, and can climb trees and the fences.
Here is a photo of Treppy taken about March 17th:
He maneuvers on his hind legs and his right front leg; you can see in the photo above that he keeps his left leg in the air, but when he has to move in a hurry it goes down and he scrambles away as fast as any other squirrel! The injured area looks much improved from its condition in the March 12th photo.
I have not seen Treppy since the photo above, and I'm worried.
Today Blinky paid a visit and I was so happy to see him again! While Treppy is very leery of me and my camera, Blinky would come right into the house if I held the door open for him, LOL! Blinky is looking healthy, except for his blind right eye. I tried getting several photos of him, but my hands have the shakes today so most of the photos turned out too blurry to see much of anything. In the photo below (which is on maximum zoom on my ancient camera), you can sort of see his white eye as he sits atop the fence near my garage, happily nibbling away on a hazelnut:
He (she?) is not quite as chubby as Treppy but is in much better condition now than the first time I saw him. It seems he doesn't like being around the other squirrels, so he comes during non-rush hours (rush hours are sunrise to 8:30 and between 3-6 in the evening). He still has difficulty finding the nuts but he must have vision in his left eye, else I cannot imagine how he would be able to survive. This morning I spotted him sitting on top of the garage and I was relieved, for I had not seen him in several days.
I opened the patio door, and Blinky stood up. He didn't turn his head, though, he just kept his blind eye toward me -- could he possibly see something out of it? I tossed some nuts out -- and I could tell he instantly heard them hit the concrete patio. He came scrambling down the roof, jumped to the fence, and down to the patio and started searching; I rolled a few nuts to him -- it's like playing bocce ball with hazelnuts, LOL! Up into his little paws -- how do they hold a nut and climb at the same time? Up to the top of the fence, then he cracked open the hard hazelnut shell with his teeth. He ate four nuts, then disappeared toward the southeast over the garage roof.
I hope I see Treppy and Blinky again.
Will spring EVER come? A week ago Monday I was basking in 70 degrees F; today it's threatening snow, and will be in the 30's all week. Sigh. After our brief week of warm weather (2 weeks ago), though, all of the snow and ice have melted from my yard, YAH! And the sump pump, which had kicked in two weeks ago Sunday, finally stopped its non-stop running five days later. It has cycled on only a few times since, so I know the ground has dried out after the foot and 1/2 of snow melted from the front lawn!
Now all the lawn services are going around door to door in the neighborhood trying to drum up business. They do NOT understand the meaning of N-O!
As you know, I'm a squirrel nut. I feed an entire tribe of them all year round. About a month ago, on a very sunny but bitterly cold day, two small squirrels showed up in my backyard. I could tell they were not regulars of the tribe because they were very thin and scrawny looking, and both of their tails were rather bedraggled. My heart immediately went out to both of them. I stood at my patio door and watched as they searched for food. One could barely move and was either very sick or injured, although I could not see exactly where or what its injury may have been; I thought perhaps it had the "tipping" disease -- that's what I call it -- I think it is a brain disease that affects a squirrel's balance; the other squirrel passed right by hazelnuts and peanuts, as if it couldn't see them. And then it dawned on me after watching for awhile, that little squirrel could NOT see. It was blind!
I very carefully opened up the patio door and rolled more nuts out, trying to get them as close to the newcomers as possible. The blind squirrel walked right over some of them, but once I hit in in the rump with a hazelnut he turned and was able to find the nut! My other, healthy fat squirrels tolerated their presence; normally the healthy squirrels will chase each other away if it looks like one is getting too greedy with the nuts or is attempting to move into the territory.
I had not seen a blind squirrel before -- could not even imagine that such a thing was possible -- how could a blind squirrel possibly survive in the wild? He actually got close enough to me, barely a foot away as I was kneeling down at the patio door attempting to roll nuts into its little paws, and I could see that its right eye was white-opaque -- maybe a cataract, maybe blind in that eye from birth? No way for me know. I named him Blinky, for it appeared that the right eyelid would droop over the blind eye as Blinky ate.
The other little squirrel that was either sick or injured (or both), did not come close enough for me to get a good look, but after about 10 days I was able to get some photos of him as he visited the yard and rummaged for peanuts (his preferred food over hazelnuts) and sunflower seeds:
The photo above was taken on March 12th, when the thaw was in progress (that's my back patio -- it was a mess). You can see the little one's injured left shoulder, the matted fur, and the wizened left leg and paw, but he has become chubby thanks to my food supply! I named him Intrepid, Treppy for short. It's just amazing to me that an animal could survive such a severe injury; how intrepid this little fellow must be. You are not able to see it in this photo but I could see where his skin has been torn open/pierced and the remains of dried blood -- along with the matted fur, I believe his shoulder/leg muscles were severely injured and he will be permanently crippled.
Over the next days Treppy and Blinky visited often. They may have come every day, but I did not see them every day. Slowly but surely, they got plumper, and Treppy is now moving around much more like a normal squirrel, and can climb trees and the fences.
Here is a photo of Treppy taken about March 17th:
He maneuvers on his hind legs and his right front leg; you can see in the photo above that he keeps his left leg in the air, but when he has to move in a hurry it goes down and he scrambles away as fast as any other squirrel! The injured area looks much improved from its condition in the March 12th photo.
I have not seen Treppy since the photo above, and I'm worried.
Today Blinky paid a visit and I was so happy to see him again! While Treppy is very leery of me and my camera, Blinky would come right into the house if I held the door open for him, LOL! Blinky is looking healthy, except for his blind right eye. I tried getting several photos of him, but my hands have the shakes today so most of the photos turned out too blurry to see much of anything. In the photo below (which is on maximum zoom on my ancient camera), you can sort of see his white eye as he sits atop the fence near my garage, happily nibbling away on a hazelnut:
He (she?) is not quite as chubby as Treppy but is in much better condition now than the first time I saw him. It seems he doesn't like being around the other squirrels, so he comes during non-rush hours (rush hours are sunrise to 8:30 and between 3-6 in the evening). He still has difficulty finding the nuts but he must have vision in his left eye, else I cannot imagine how he would be able to survive. This morning I spotted him sitting on top of the garage and I was relieved, for I had not seen him in several days.
I opened the patio door, and Blinky stood up. He didn't turn his head, though, he just kept his blind eye toward me -- could he possibly see something out of it? I tossed some nuts out -- and I could tell he instantly heard them hit the concrete patio. He came scrambling down the roof, jumped to the fence, and down to the patio and started searching; I rolled a few nuts to him -- it's like playing bocce ball with hazelnuts, LOL! Up into his little paws -- how do they hold a nut and climb at the same time? Up to the top of the fence, then he cracked open the hard hazelnut shell with his teeth. He ate four nuts, then disappeared toward the southeast over the garage roof.
I hope I see Treppy and Blinky again.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
I'm In An Autumn Frame of Mind
Hola darlings!
Some of you may not know whom the late, great, Nat King Cole was. I remember watching him on a tiny black and white television (that's all we had back then), when I was a little kid (the mid-1950's). I was absolutely enthralled by his voice and his presence on stage. Back then, all t.v. was done LIVE. There weren't retakes and there was no video and no editing! This subtle, nuanced performance of "Autumn Leaves," music and lyrics by the wonderful Johnny Mercer, as sung by Nat King Cole, is timeless. There is just something about his voice that touches the deepest parts of my heart and soul. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.
This time of year, I am remembering my beloved Mr. Don, who died on October 12, 2012. So many wonderful , but wistful, memories, and now, this song is imparted with so much more meaning for me.
I didn't think "autumn fever" would strike this year. But, lo and behold, it did. I was sitting at the dinette table one morning and decided I needed to bring in the season. And so I rummaged around in all of my as yet unpacked boxes in the "wreck" room (finished basement area with a man-cave bar and set-up for a massive flat-screen TV on the wall that Mr. Don would have loved) and eventually unearthed my autumnal decorations and decor.
Some of you may not know whom the late, great, Nat King Cole was. I remember watching him on a tiny black and white television (that's all we had back then), when I was a little kid (the mid-1950's). I was absolutely enthralled by his voice and his presence on stage. Back then, all t.v. was done LIVE. There weren't retakes and there was no video and no editing! This subtle, nuanced performance of "Autumn Leaves," music and lyrics by the wonderful Johnny Mercer, as sung by Nat King Cole, is timeless. There is just something about his voice that touches the deepest parts of my heart and soul. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do.
This time of year, I am remembering my beloved Mr. Don, who died on October 12, 2012. So many wonderful , but wistful, memories, and now, this song is imparted with so much more meaning for me.
I didn't think "autumn fever" would strike this year. But, lo and behold, it did. I was sitting at the dinette table one morning and decided I needed to bring in the season. And so I rummaged around in all of my as yet unpacked boxes in the "wreck" room (finished basement area with a man-cave bar and set-up for a massive flat-screen TV on the wall that Mr. Don would have loved) and eventually unearthed my autumnal decorations and decor.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
I Am The Evil Squirrel Queen...
Hola darlings!
As you may know, I am an old softy when it comes to animals and I get such a big kick out of the squirrels who congregate in my yard to be fed. They get peanuts and nuts in the shell. Costs a mini-fortune every month but since I refuse to adopt a pet after the heartbreak of losing to death, one by one, my three doggies some years ago, I just cannot face adopting another dog, only to lose it to death or, even worse, I die first and my dog would end up at the animal shelter.
Fast forward to today. I believe I may have blogged about this very same thing happening around this time, last year. But perhaps I blogged about it at Goddesschess blog, not here. In any event, the Phantom Raker has struck again!
Yep, whoever it is rakes up all of the nut shells the squirrels deposit into his or her yard, and then dumps them surreptitiously in my front yard, near my mail box. Last year a small pile was also deposited on the south side near the beginning of my driveway.
A real class act, wouldn't you agree? Like I'm deliberately sending the squirrels with nuts in their mouths into his or her yard just so the nut shells are deposited THERE? What a Svengali act! Maybe I should take my squirrel and nut show on the road, heh :)
No shells in front yard this morning, three piles of shells had been deposited when I arrived home this evening. Obviously, this is a person with too much time on his or her hands and who knows my schedule. If I saw this person doing this while I was home, I would confront said person. What kind of sick, weirdo coward does such a thing?
If I ever do find out who it is, I will rake up a big fat pile of nut shells from my back yard (they are always present since I feed the squirrels morning and night), deposit said shells into a lovely gift bag, I will go to the person's house, ring the doorbell, and deliver the shells in person to this tresspasser who is so warped as to take the time to rake up the shells but instead of disposing of them like a normal person would do, chooses, instead, to dump them in my front yard.
Does he or she get a thrill out of that, I wonder? Does he or she watch when, this weekend, in-between bouts of forecasted rain, I will go out and rake up said shells? Does he or she rub his or her hands together in glee, cackling like an evil fiend as they watch from behind the curtains? Sick, sick, sick.
I wonder if this person shoots birds or puts out poison bait because they poop on the trees and lawn? Poisons rabbits because they dig holes for nests in one's lawn and eat one's hostas? Kills any animal that happens across the sacred boundaries of their yard?
Get your jollies off, neighbor. I'll be sending legions of squirrels into your territory who will, I hope, deposit tons of nut shells and dig countless holes into your lawn. I've got a brand new crop of baby squirrels swinging all around my big old elm tree out back and I'm training them up already. Yep, aimed right at YOUR yard. Bwaaaahhaaahhaaaaa!
As you may know, I am an old softy when it comes to animals and I get such a big kick out of the squirrels who congregate in my yard to be fed. They get peanuts and nuts in the shell. Costs a mini-fortune every month but since I refuse to adopt a pet after the heartbreak of losing to death, one by one, my three doggies some years ago, I just cannot face adopting another dog, only to lose it to death or, even worse, I die first and my dog would end up at the animal shelter.
Fast forward to today. I believe I may have blogged about this very same thing happening around this time, last year. But perhaps I blogged about it at Goddesschess blog, not here. In any event, the Phantom Raker has struck again!
Yep, whoever it is rakes up all of the nut shells the squirrels deposit into his or her yard, and then dumps them surreptitiously in my front yard, near my mail box. Last year a small pile was also deposited on the south side near the beginning of my driveway.
 |
| Quel horreurs! Squirrel prints all over my deck during blizzard, EEK EEK EEK EEK! |
A real class act, wouldn't you agree? Like I'm deliberately sending the squirrels with nuts in their mouths into his or her yard just so the nut shells are deposited THERE? What a Svengali act! Maybe I should take my squirrel and nut show on the road, heh :)
No shells in front yard this morning, three piles of shells had been deposited when I arrived home this evening. Obviously, this is a person with too much time on his or her hands and who knows my schedule. If I saw this person doing this while I was home, I would confront said person. What kind of sick, weirdo coward does such a thing?
 |
| Quel horreurs deux! A squirrel eating a nut on my deck, EEK EEK EEK EEK! And looky there, plenty of evidence that lots of squirrels have been munching on nuts and peanuts on said deck, too. IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT, RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! |
If I ever do find out who it is, I will rake up a big fat pile of nut shells from my back yard (they are always present since I feed the squirrels morning and night), deposit said shells into a lovely gift bag, I will go to the person's house, ring the doorbell, and deliver the shells in person to this tresspasser who is so warped as to take the time to rake up the shells but instead of disposing of them like a normal person would do, chooses, instead, to dump them in my front yard.
Does he or she get a thrill out of that, I wonder? Does he or she watch when, this weekend, in-between bouts of forecasted rain, I will go out and rake up said shells? Does he or she rub his or her hands together in glee, cackling like an evil fiend as they watch from behind the curtains? Sick, sick, sick.
I wonder if this person shoots birds or puts out poison bait because they poop on the trees and lawn? Poisons rabbits because they dig holes for nests in one's lawn and eat one's hostas? Kills any animal that happens across the sacred boundaries of their yard?
 |
| Quel horreurs trois! It's a Demon Squirrel from Hell! Just look at that glowing eye... Gee, wonder why that crazy woman who feeds the squirrels (moi) has such a lucious full green lawn??? But look at those nut shells, what a mess! To the concentration camp with her, Heil Hitler! |
Get your jollies off, neighbor. I'll be sending legions of squirrels into your territory who will, I hope, deposit tons of nut shells and dig countless holes into your lawn. I've got a brand new crop of baby squirrels swinging all around my big old elm tree out back and I'm training them up already. Yep, aimed right at YOUR yard. Bwaaaahhaaahhaaaaa!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Ooks! Goofing Off Instead of Painting the Kitchen...
Geez, my backyard is really a mess! It rained buckets last week Friday, was gloomy and soggy all last Saturday, and was nice -- too nice to do yard work -- last Sunday. That same pattern is being repeated this weekend, except yesterday and today it's much colder, by some 30 degrees brrrrrrr, and we got a good inch of rain around here, so it's soggy again! Tomorrow, though, is promised to us by the weather people to be in the 70's and sunny. We'll see. At this moment, I'm finding it hard to believe as I've got the furnace turned on, it's cold and damp outside and inside, and I'm thinking about firing up the fireplace and moving to my workstation at the desk in the living room rather than continue here in the family room.
But I digress, darlings! I shouldn't be doing this at all. I should be busy up on my genuine antique ladder (I think it was made in 1340, around the time the Huns started invading Europe) putting painters tape all around the ceiling and trim where I'm going to paint my kitchen soffit and the area underneath the cabinets that lovely dark taupe color that will - eventually - be going into my family room, too.
I started out good, honest! I got up before 7 a.m., fed the squirrels, had my coffee and croissant, checked the news, and I actually spent $1 yesterday and bought a Mega Millions ticket -- so I checked to see if I'd won. Nope, did not win. Can't hire painters. Can't buy a house with a view on an island somewhere or way up on a mountain (but not a volcano).
Then I started checking the blogs, and that's deadly to getting work done around here, oy! Then I fed the squirrels again and that's when I noticed this little fellow - with a red (foxy red) tail! Haven't seen him or her around before, and he or she sure is scared of me, and even of the other animals, so I know he or she isn't local. Wonder where he/she came from?
I wasn't able to get close, and my camera, although it is a good Nikon, is a point and shoot from 2006 - practically an antique by now, darlings! But I love it still. It's only got 3x zoom on it and that does not give the best photos:
Squirrel is nearly centered in this pic - facing toward me, down below the slowy dissolving retaining wall. Can you see the red in the tail? Hmmm, no, this is not the best shot. Also one big fat regular grey squirrel in the forefront!
There! Now do you see that red tint? It's not paint - at least, I'm fairly sure it's not paint; I mean, how could a squirrel possibly get just his tail painted red, but nothing else?
Looks like the same photo, but it's not. You can see the little flash of reddish tint in that tail.
He was down where I toss the bird food, no doubt nibbling away on the plentiful sunflower seeds. Green stuff and my perrenials and volunteers coming up all over the place, and the wild honeysuckle shrubs that nothing can kill, not even my saw, are blooming out too, and I haven't cleaned out last year's detrius yet.
He/she got really spooked by me and disappeared, finally, behind the picket fence on the west. I'll keep my eye out to see if Red Tail returns. I've had gimpy squirrels, aged squirrels, and squirrels with something like epilepsy (I call it the falling-down disease) hanging around in my yard for years, but I do not recall seeing a red-tailed squirrel before. I have read that in Central Park in New York where generations of grey squirrels have bred in peace and relative security, some squirrels with red fur sometimes crop up. I wonder if that is what happened here? These aren't the English red squirrels, which are smaller and have differently shaped ears -- these are grey squirrels who have turned partially red because they don't need the grey-black-brown coloration to "hide" in their environment (trees). Sometimes a squirrel can be right on the trunk of the big tree out back (you can see part of it in the first photo) but if it stays still the human eye doesn't readily pick it out because it blends in so well.
Pleae see Part II...
But I digress, darlings! I shouldn't be doing this at all. I should be busy up on my genuine antique ladder (I think it was made in 1340, around the time the Huns started invading Europe) putting painters tape all around the ceiling and trim where I'm going to paint my kitchen soffit and the area underneath the cabinets that lovely dark taupe color that will - eventually - be going into my family room, too.
I started out good, honest! I got up before 7 a.m., fed the squirrels, had my coffee and croissant, checked the news, and I actually spent $1 yesterday and bought a Mega Millions ticket -- so I checked to see if I'd won. Nope, did not win. Can't hire painters. Can't buy a house with a view on an island somewhere or way up on a mountain (but not a volcano).
Then I started checking the blogs, and that's deadly to getting work done around here, oy! Then I fed the squirrels again and that's when I noticed this little fellow - with a red (foxy red) tail! Haven't seen him or her around before, and he or she sure is scared of me, and even of the other animals, so I know he or she isn't local. Wonder where he/she came from?
I wasn't able to get close, and my camera, although it is a good Nikon, is a point and shoot from 2006 - practically an antique by now, darlings! But I love it still. It's only got 3x zoom on it and that does not give the best photos:
Squirrel is nearly centered in this pic - facing toward me, down below the slowy dissolving retaining wall. Can you see the red in the tail? Hmmm, no, this is not the best shot. Also one big fat regular grey squirrel in the forefront!
There! Now do you see that red tint? It's not paint - at least, I'm fairly sure it's not paint; I mean, how could a squirrel possibly get just his tail painted red, but nothing else?
Looks like the same photo, but it's not. You can see the little flash of reddish tint in that tail.
He was down where I toss the bird food, no doubt nibbling away on the plentiful sunflower seeds. Green stuff and my perrenials and volunteers coming up all over the place, and the wild honeysuckle shrubs that nothing can kill, not even my saw, are blooming out too, and I haven't cleaned out last year's detrius yet.
He/she got really spooked by me and disappeared, finally, behind the picket fence on the west. I'll keep my eye out to see if Red Tail returns. I've had gimpy squirrels, aged squirrels, and squirrels with something like epilepsy (I call it the falling-down disease) hanging around in my yard for years, but I do not recall seeing a red-tailed squirrel before. I have read that in Central Park in New York where generations of grey squirrels have bred in peace and relative security, some squirrels with red fur sometimes crop up. I wonder if that is what happened here? These aren't the English red squirrels, which are smaller and have differently shaped ears -- these are grey squirrels who have turned partially red because they don't need the grey-black-brown coloration to "hide" in their environment (trees). Sometimes a squirrel can be right on the trunk of the big tree out back (you can see part of it in the first photo) but if it stays still the human eye doesn't readily pick it out because it blends in so well.
Pleae see Part II...
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