Last Sunday dawned dank and gloomy, but by 9:00 a.m. when I met the ladies for our investment club meeting at Meyer's Restaurant, it had turned gorgeous outside! There was a nice breeze, it was sunny and, most important to my aching bones these days, DRY! The dew point had dropped into the 40's and it was very comfortable. Ultimately the temperature got up to around 85F, but during the afternoon on the deck, in the shade of the backyard, it was lovely.
I pulled the laptop outside and worked on the deck for several hours. While I was out there, the birds were busy taking baths, the yellow finches were out in force picking at the seed heads on the catnip and wild fox glove, and the squirrels kept coming because they knew I'd continue to toss them almonds while I was there and they were there! LOL - those squirrels really have me trained.
Then, about 5 p.m. or so, along came this very old squirrel. It moved so slowly, and its whiskers were very grey. There were lots of wrinkles around his eyes and nose. Maybe he had bad teeth too, because he couldn't seem to crack through the almond shells. Fortunately, I had some peanuts and he was able to bite through the peanut shells to get to the "nut" underneath. He greedily ate several, and then settled down for a nap, right on the grass! Here are a couple of photos.
He hung around the yard for a couple of hours. At one point, he was very close to the deck, laying on the grass, and he was so still, I thought he may have died. Well, if I were a squirrel I could think of a lot worse places to die. My yard is pretty cool (from a squirrel's point of view - free food tossed out throughout the day, plus lots of berries and roots and bugs, always clean water and plenty of trees to live in. What's not to like? I've buried other dead animals in the backyard over the years, so I was mentally preparing myself to pull out the shovel and grab some plastic bags. But the old fella was just napping again. He eventually woke up and wandered off along the north side of the house toward the east. I saw him last Monday morning shortly after 6 a.m. and I tossed him some more peanuts. I haven't seen him since then.
Last Sunday dawned dank and gloomy, but by 9:00 a.m. when I met the ladies for our investment club meeting at Meyer's Restaurant, it had turned gorgeous outside! There was a nice breeze, it was sunny and, most important to my aching bones these days, DRY! The dew point had dropped into the 40's and it was very comfortable. Ultimately the temperature got up to around 85F, but during the afternoon on the deck, in the shade of the backyard, it was lovely.
I pulled the laptop outside and worked on the deck for several hours. While I was out there, the birds were busy taking baths, the yellow finches were out in force picking at the seed heads on the catnip and wild fox glove, and the squirrels kept coming because they knew I'd continue to toss them almonds while I was there and they were there! LOL - those squirrels really have me trained.
Then, about 5 p.m. or so, along came this very old squirrel. It moved so slowly, and its whiskers were very grey. There were lots of wrinkles around his eyes and nose. Maybe he had bad teeth too, because he couldn't seem to crack through the almond shells. Fortunately, I had some peanuts and he was able to bite through the peanut shells to get to the "nut" underneath. He greedily ate several, and then settled down for a nap, right on the grass! Here are a couple of photos.
He hung around the yard for a couple of hours. At one point, he was very close to the deck, laying on the grass, and he was so still, I thought he may have died. Well, if I were a squirrel I could think of a lot worse places to die. My yard is pretty cool (from a squirrel's point of view - free food tossed out throughout the day, plus lots of berries and roots and bugs, always clean water and plenty of trees to live in. What's not to like? I've buried other dead animals in the backyard over the years, so I was mentally preparing myself to pull out the shovel and grab some plastic bags. But the old fella was just napping again. He eventually woke up and wandered off along the north side of the house toward the east. I saw him last Monday morning shortly after 6 a.m. and I tossed him some more peanuts. I haven't seen him since then.
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