Friday, March 09, 2007

Tree Rats To the Left of Me...

Tree Rats To the Right,
And Here I Am
Stuck In the Middle With You.

Sorry. :-) Where was I...oh yeah. Tree rats.

After putting the feeders in place back in December we went almost two weeks without seeing a bird. Then they began showing up in droves.

Then we went for a month before the first tree rat (gray squirrel) showed up. Like the birds, they must have a secret communications headquarters some where in the pines. Now we have between five and eight of the SOBs showing up every morning. Some will stay out by the telephone pole feeder and either pick up seed from the ground or spill some from the feeder so the others can feed on the ground. Tree Rats under the feederAs many as five at a time have come up on the deck to feed from the tray feeders or on the seed spilled by the wind and birds onto the deck.
Tree Rat on DeckThey’re entertaining enough but they tend to scare the birds away because of their size. When I go onto the deck it’s like rats abandoning a ship. They dive from the deck to the snow some 10 feet below and hightail it into the woods. Those on the ground by the pole tend to need some encouragement to scram. I’ll stay out watching them all seemingly disappear into the woods before returning to the indoor warmth. Moments later I’ll look out to see one hardy soul returning to the spoils. Then another. And another…

No comments: