I'm seeing red...

... squirrels, that is!!!


We've been delighted by the antics of this little fellow, who showed up out of the blue in mid-July...


Now we have never, ever had red squirrels in our yard or neighborhood, so this was quite exciting!! And they are so different from our gray Sammy Squirrels!


First of all, they move at the speed of light! No moseying around for these guys.. Nope, they zip, zip, zip from one place to the next, almost doing a bunny hop!!! And they're tiny compared to grey squirrels! At first glance, they almost look like giant chipmunks! Also, their personalities are more similar to chipmunks than squirrels, as evidenced by these photos...

... They're much more trusting and way less fearful than the grey squirrels. All our Chips are quite trusting and brave whereas most of our Sammies are a little more cautious... But this little guy had no problem racing across the top of Squirrel Gulch to greet me once he saw what I was handing out, because...

... that's the one area where there's NO difference between red squirrels, grey squirrels, or chipmunks - they all love their peanuts! I think this photo says it all!!!!

Hope you all have a lovely week!!!

Donna

Squirrel gulch...

I’m not sure how it got dubbed “squirrel gulch,” because it’s not a gulch at all, but that’s what we now call the girls’ 20-year old swingset.


The swingset used to sit next to the treehouse, but when the shed was put in, we moved it next to the deck until we decided what to do with it.


It took a day like this (brrrrr... this photo was taken 3 years ago) to make us realize that we should leave the swingset right next to the deck…


...because these little guys, who brave even the nastiest winter weather to get their peanut treats, discovered they could come down the tree branches and scurry across the swingset to the deck, not once having to go down to the yard to work their way through the (sometimes) knee deep snow! The squirrels realized it was the perfect shortcut/bridge to the deck...


Well, the word spread, and before long birds started coming. They realized that if they sat and looked adorable, that we'd put nuts out for them as well… First the bluejays came…

They tend to be greedy/hungry birds, so they come a lot… Just look at Sammy down at the end, horrified that the blue jay got one of his nuts!

Then the shy cardinals started coming. This is a young male; the female is never far away... (And once again, you can see that the squirrels are ever present when peanuts are being handed out!)...

And now the mockingbirds have started coming (no photos of them yet)... But most of the time it’s these guys... day in & day out – rain or shine - morning, noon, & early evening – 365 days a year.

And then there are those days when it's just too hot to eat, and the swingset is the perfect place to just flop… I took this photo yesterday from inside the house...

When I ventured outside to get a photo, Sammy heard me coming, but it was so hot he didn't even try to move…

Now I know many people think of these little guys as rats with bushy tails, but we have a soft spot in our hearts for them (even if they do rip up my plants)... So the swingset (a.k.a. Squirrel Gulch) has now found its permanent home.

"Okay, Sammy, I’ll be right back with a nut for you…"

Donna