“WHAT? ANOTHER BIRDFEEDER?”

So said my neighbor as I carefully opened the huge box the UPS guy just delivered. “Well, the birds really like the old feeder where they can get in and eat safely, but you see, the squirrels pretty well demolished it a few years ago… and I just can’t get rid of it because the little guys love it so.” And they do. And the squirrels did. And they continue to demolish it every chance they get.

   

One very ambitious and determined old squirrel decided several years ago to chew his way thru the bottom of my birdfeeder – the one where he could not reach far enough thru the cage to reach the food. The one with a tray that caught the seed and did not let it spill as easily as he would have liked.

He must have broken his teeth crewing  enough for the drain holes to begin to rust enough for him to rip the metal a little more each time he worked on it. And he could chew on it by the hour! Eventually,  he had holes big enough that the seed just fell straight thru but he still wasn’t satisfied. I added a cut up pie plate to the feeder to catch the seed. That did not last long… not that I really expected it to last… but it has been interesting to watch him, or the next generation work on getting inside this cage. Yep, you read that right. This fellow wants to get INSIDE!

    

And so, it was time to buy a new feeder… but the old one is so much fun!

LOONY COONS

FORGET THE LUNATIC SQUIRRELS, we are now dealing with some very naughty raccoons - very naughty! Yes, we have moved from destructive squirrels to destructive raccoons. My guess is we have a hungry mother, and in her haste to find food, she is just tearing up everything in sight. She seems especially fond of fresh potting soil and has made a mess of everything she can get her paws into. I think this Bleeding Heart will survive, but I am not so sure about the 10 tuberous begonias planted in these boxes. I have waited several weeks for them to sprout, and just as they finally had recognizable begonias leaves, the coon dug them out and broke the leaves off the bulbs. She also dug holes all thru the 4x4 garden, so today will be spent building a wire cage around – and over this fence to protect it until the tomatoes and watermelon get a good start. She even dug up some flowers that I thought would be better established by now. This was a pansy bed... torn apart... I had to search for the little plants...Last night, she got into a bag of kitty litter! Fortunately she didn’t like it so clean up was minimal!
I had to put a “door” on the shelves on the carport where I keep “stuff” for the yard, including cat food when we go away and have someone come to feed Spook and Punkin. Even though that food is in cans when it is out there, the coons knock the stuff off the shelves and roll things around on the carport. As I said, naughty, naughty! They knocked the marble off the old birdbath base. I usually keep a plant on it, but it only had potting things on it last night. The other night, they took the double sided cat food dish all the way out to the edge of the woods. I have no idea how far they would have taken it, but I chased them and found it about a hundred feet from the carport. Dumb part is – it was empty when they took it!
On the bright side, the strawberries have been making good progress. I was surprised to see a hint of red, then a lot more red, and finally enough to be able to share. How do you know when you have enough to share? You have enough when there are berries left over after you eat them as you pick them… that is an advantage of not using any pesticides or herbicides. Pick ‘em and eat ‘em! They were not as sweet as I expected, but someone told me that is because it has been so cool. Maybe the next picking will be sweeter, but today is another cool one, and they have said we might get down to 39 tonight! That is cold for us for this time of year, but I have friends in NY and Ontario who are getting snow today! Imagine, snow for mother’s day! there are FREEZE warnings for my place up in the Poconos!

SPRING, FINALLY, and LUNATIC SQUIRRELS

I THINK SPRING has finally arrived - no, not just on the calendar, but out in the yard where it counts! The rains took a vacation this week and the yard is trying to dry out... but more rain is POSSIBLE... SIGH. It has been wonderful to hang the laundry back out on the line. Yes, I am an old fashion woman - I like to hang clothes outside. Dryers are OK for when it rains or is below freezing, but give me a clothes line any day. My lakes, which used to be grass to mow, are now moss beds when not under water... I wonder when the grass will come back? Or will it this year????? The ditches still have water in them as do many of the farmer's fields. They have been liming the fields that they can get into, but ya can't take your tractor into a lake, even if the water is only 4 or 5 inches deep. I feel for the farmers... it has been a rough year. Even Buddha is sitting by a lake. As the water has receeded, the deer have been eating the buds off the young trees and along the mossy patches of ground. I scare them at night when I take stuff out to the compost pile. It is hard to see... but see those 2 bright dots? Sometimes I am not sure who scares whom the most. When the wind is blowing we can almost bump into each other out there! Spook and Punkin like to sneak up on them in the dark. Such funny boys! Sometimes Spook pretends he is a garden figurine. Saint Spook here.... The birds are making their spring noises staking out their territories and fighting each other at the bird feeders. This guy is saying, "I dare you to come near this feeder!" It certainly sounds like spring. The squirrels seem to have gotten a little nutty. Sorry. One in particular... he is chewing on everything... he seems determined to destroy anything in his path. I had to take down the squirrel feeder because the fool was eating the plastic, not the food - even when he was inside the feeder where the food was, he sat and chewed on the plastic like he could not figure how to get out. He has also chewed the bottom of the big bird feeder. I had to put a pie tin in the bottom. The good part is, the daffodils have finally started to bloom. Not sure what happened to the crocus - just one or 2 little clumps this year, and a month late! Guess they gave up. Another sure sign of spring is the wheelbarrow out for its maiden voyage of the year, carting old left over wet leaves to the compost pile and toting fresh mulch in to a few low areas. The best part of the day, however, was the uncovering of the adirondack I never got in out of the yard last year... Oh it felt good to sit in the sun in this chair.

BOTTOMS UP! (SQUIRRELS and OTHER VISITORS)

THE SQUIRREL population has dramatically increased the last few years - a miracle, really, when you watch them run back and forth across the road. There is a pecan tree across the road, you see. My pecan trees are too young to have nuts.

I long ago learned that there is no such thing as a cheap bird feeder. The squirrels destroy the cheap ones sometimes in a matter of weeks. It would have been better to buy the more expensive one with metal guards on it in the first place. The little guys seem to figure out how to get into just about everything. Years ago we got a squirrel feeder. It did OK until the Coons found it and ripped it apart. It took a lot of patching to make it usable again, and, again, it was destroyed in the first week. My friend bought a new cedar one, and in one week, one squirrel who could not figure it out had chewed the plastic and the lid, see it? Then one evening I watched as a coon tried to take the back off. However, when they can figure it out, they seem to have a good time eating. I have been told I have the fattest squirrels in town. When the food level gets down, they just crawl right inside and eat.

And a question for you - why do they call this a squirrel BAFFLE? One of the squirrels hides under it. Guess it makes a good snow baffle... or umbrella? And, another new visitor. This pretty little thing didn't find any bananas the other night, so she came by to check out the cat food. I began to wonder if she was one I had released here, as she seemed quite tame. I did not try to touch her, just sat on the steps and took pictures. And a reminder to those of you who kill or scare off possums - they DO NOT GET RABIES, and they will eat mice and rats and all kinds of bugs AND they will eat poisonous snakes. POSSUMS ARE YOUR FRIEND! Just trust me on that - or google opossums and read all about them.