We have lots of White Oak trees in the back. Because it's been so dry they're dropping their acorns early (and they are very small, almost like large BBs). I have a wood deck right outside where I write, and the trees come up to the house (I think I need to post more photos). Anway, dense acorns hitting wood right next to me. It's making me jumpy. Not expecting anything in "ponk!"
A small part of my hind brain keeps shouting, "Incoming!" It's very distracting.
On the plus side, acorns feed the wild turkeys that come through the yard. The little bastard squirrels don't bother with them, instead choosing to bliss out on the sunflower seeds we feed the birds in the winter. Little tree pigs. The chipmonks mostly get the shells. The bad thing is that the acorns hurt when you're barefoot. They also bring the grackels. If you've never seen a hundred or more black birds marching in formation through your yard tossing up leaves to find the acorns, you're missing something.
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I've got a small Grey wood squirrel who has staked out my backyard spruce trees as her territory. I feed her in the winter, standard squirrel food mix which is sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, corn. She eats the seed and throws the corn over the side of the feeder. Alaskan squirrels apparently don't see corn as food, and don't want to. That's okay, the moose eats the corn. If that feeder runs out, she waits in the tree above the back door and chatters loudly until I get out there with the food bucket.
I don't know what she eats in the summer, I don't fill the bird or squirrel feeders once the snow starts to melt. That's a good way to end up feeding bears.
I feel a Buchheit poem coming on.
Jim, the squirrels and I are at war. Sure, if it's out little red squirrel, I'll look away, but the other gets the "You;d better run or your stew" noises whenever I see them. I made one jump from our deck to the ice covered snowpack below (about 10 feet). There was a satifying little "crunch" at the bottom as he broke ice (yes, he did run away afterward, and looking at the fur pattern was back at the feeder the next day).
But I have squirrel baffles and I've trimmed trees back. My platform feeder I can't do anything about (it needs to be low for the ground feeders, like junkos, to use). But my hanging one are somewhat safe. Two have figured out how to get around the one baffle (I need to figure out how).
Camille, I would, and it'll end up somewhere, but right now I'm to agitated from mail (might be a post later) to do it.
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