Squirrels Just Want to Have Fun!

I hope you remember the trouble we had here on our hill when the squirrels started carrying guns.  If you don't remember, or you are new to reading this blog then you need to first read HOLD UP There are a couple short posts about a scary situation that was resolved by a savvy squirrel.  
Now that you have read that, you will understand that the squirrels up here can get a bit rowdy.  This weekend they had quite a party. I have no photos of that party due to the fact that they threatened to destroy my camera if I captured any proof from the weekend.  

By Sunday afternoon, though, they were beyond caring.

By then many of their friends had gone home. This one had just enough strength to call out to me for another beer.  I refused, not wanting to aid in his moral destruction. His friends wouldn't help either.  As each woke up (in some strange places) it headed for its home tree. If he hadn't deserved falling, I would have worried about this one traversing the roof on his still wobbly legs.

I'm sure there were some squirrel wives waiting impatiently at home because several of the errant rodents were in a big hurry once they realized the time.

There was even a small show of rodent remorse.

("Please don't tell my wife. Please don't tell my wife.")

This fellow, below, was not caring about remorse, the time or much of anything else. 

 He could barely hold his head up.

I really need a better security system.
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Out of the Fog

The dry autumn weather has been broken by a light rain lasting all night and even now continues as a drizzle surrounded by fog. The fog and oncoming cold do not entice me to stay out long. The mourning doves are still hunkered down in the spruce tree waiting for hunger to draw them out.  I stepped outside just long enough to catch one before it ventured out.  I also couldn't resist a photo of the trees behind the barn, almost hidden within the fog.  The rest of the day will be spent inside catching up on work that needs to be done and checking out the bird feeders.

It has been a good fall for watching the feeders.  Evidently the forest mast is low this year, meaning that there are not enough nuts, seeds and fruits for the wildlife.  In Wood County we have noticed how much the squirrels are traveling.  Many have ended up as road kill while searching farther afield for storage food.  At our home the squirrels are somewhat segretated.  The red or fox squirrels live in the woods in front of the house and the gray ones live behind the house.  This year I have seen both running across the large grassy expanse in search of food.  Our two feeders contain sunflower seeds. One feeder is somewhat squirrel proof while the other is more like a squirrel fast-food restaurant.  The red and gray squirrels eat together, side by side, returning to their own territory each time I venture out to "shoo" them away. While they are enjoyable to watch, it is too expensive to feed them.  At one point I have had five at once accompanied by four chipmunks.  The squirrels empty the feeder in about an hour - the same feeder that will feed the birds for several days. 

At night there are even more visitors to the feeder.  The neighborhood skunk arives about dark blatently ignoring our lights and noise. By bedtime the possom has come and gone, followed later by a local raccoon. Late in the night the deer stand on hind feet and add the seeds to their diet. The raccoon and skunk are a bit of a rabies concern.  I once read that you should assume that all skunks have rabies.  I don't know how true that is, but it probably isn't a good idea to encourage them to hang out so close to the house.  I do like that skunk though.  Early last summer we saw her heading across the field in the early evenings accompanied by several babies. I admire her brazen confidence. And she is beautiful.  Really she is and without a bit of stink so far.  I have to remind myself to be cautious and not mistake confidence for tameness.

In the daylight chipmonks are, by far, the cutest visitors.  They are wound so tightly that that bursting seems to be a means of transportation.  One pair comes from near our compost pile behind the house.  I've watched it run under the back spruce trees across the back yard, under the porch then out the front of the porch to the feeder. Their vacuume cleaning action serves to fill their cheek pockets until I am sure they will explode.  Just before exploding, the chipmonk bursts back under the porch then out the back and to wherever the sunflower seed storage facility is.

The most exciting visitor this year has been a dangerous one. One Sunday morning Jeff and I observed a perigrine falcon in the maple tree watching while a house finch huddled very still under the eave of the feeder. After about 15 minutes, the finch tried to escape, drawing the falcon and becoming its breakfast. The falcon has returned a few times causing the yard to become very quiet and still.