Friday, August 13, 2021

Squirrels gone wild once again

 

My hapless toad

Back in 2016, I wrote a posting about some strange behavior our squirrels exhibited after I placed a feather in one of my pots on the deck.

I was recently reminded of this episode. A small stone toad resides year ‘round in my little veggie planter. The other day I placed the toad on the deck while I was refreshing some of the herbs.

Not long after, a squirrel cautiously approached the toad. It started fussing and lunging at it. Finally, it bit the stone toad on the nose, then ran off. I have no clue as to why the squirrel was so upset. (Fortunately, the toad was not harmed in the attack.)

So, in case you missed the original posting, here it is again. Let me know if you have any thoughts as to what squirrels have against amphibians (or feathers).

 Squirrels gone Wild (September 2016)

A spill in our creek led to strange events in our garden

 

On June 30, a water utility company that owns storage tanks up the stream from us had an accident.  One of the tanks overflowed sending 220,000 gallons of water and silt down Hogback Creek. 

Our neighbor who lives above us came to our door in tears. After years of making sure the creeks and streams on his property were as pristine as possible, his work was washed away. I will write more about this tragedy in my next posting.

Feeling sad and helpless, we offered to walk up there to take photographs to send environmental authorities. While documenting the devastation, I found something that unleashed several weeks of chaos in my own back yard.

The innocent feather briefly guarded my tomato plants
 

It seemed innocent enough – the wing feather of a wild turkey. I decided to place it in my little veggie planter on the back deck in hopes it would discourage squirrels from digging up my tomatoes and herbs so they could hide nuts.

The squirrels had other ideas.

Not long after I added the feather to the planter, I noticed it was missing.  Later, we saw it on the ground 20 feet below the deck. Perhaps it blew out of the planter, we reasoned.

The next time it was lying on rocks that slope down to the creek. I had to get a long rake to retrieve it.

The third time, the perpetrator not only threw the feather off the deck, the little devil also ate the left hand side of it.

Donna spied the feather and flew into a fury
 

Determined to beat the squirrels at their own game, I used a two-foot strand of covered wire to tie it to the railing. On numerous occasions I found it hanging from the wire over the edge of the deck floor. Each time more of the feather was missing.

Now a word about our squirrels. We don’t mind them visiting as long as they don’t get on the feeders. They quite often come to the back door and beg, or stand on the table to attract our attention.  They are well behaved, and we reward them with a few unsalted nuts.

Donna, one of our regulars, is about as mild mannered as a squirrel can be. Yet one afternoon Chris saw her attack the feather with such ferocity, he had to chase her off. She lunged at it, bit it and tried to rip it free from the wire.

Today, this is all that is left of that poor feather. We have no idea what the squirrels had against it.

But I definitely won’t be dressing as a turkey for Halloween.

 


 

 

 

 


7 comments :

Dproulx said...

I enjoyed this so much. The toad and the feather ( it sounds like a British pub name) were innocent in tbe attack. This was really fascinating. Please let me know if you find out why they attacked.

Jeanette said...

Animals are amazing and entertaining to watch.

Lynn Hunt said...

Thank you Dproulx! The Toad and Feather does sound like a British Pub. Will keep you posted on any new developments.

Lynn Hunt said...

Jeanette, our squirrels and birds do keep us entertained. We enjoy them so much!

Sunil Patel said...

Hello Lynn, it's interesting why the squirrels seem to be so Jekyll and Hyde over a stone toad and turkey feather. Since we changed the position of our bird feeder, we don't tend to get squirrels close to the house anymore to steal the seed. We might have beaten them for now, but they are clever creatures, seemingly defeated by some carved stone.

Lynn Hunt said...

Sunil, you are so right about squirrels. They are inventive little critters so don't declare victory yet!

First Motion Products said...

I was recently reminded of this episode.A small stone toad resides year ‘round in my little veggie planter.

The other day I placed the toad on the deck while I was refreshing some of the herbs.

Not long after, a squirrel cautiously approached the toad. It started fussing and lunging at it.

Finally, it bit the stone toad on the nose, then ran off. I have no clue as to why the squirrel was so upset. Fortunately the toad was not harmed in the attack.

First Motion Products

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