Friday, May 22, 2009

Wild Kingdom

Yesterday the boys and I made a birdseed/peanut butter/pine cone bird feeder and this was our surprise guest we saw feasting this morning...


He tries for more from a different angle...
The squirrels in our neighborhood are plentiful and unsurprisingly fat. Last fall, we saw one in our apple tree taking a few bites out of an apple, tossing it and the grabbing another.. over and over and over again. Halloween pumpkins get mauled in hours and we have to bring in the boys snacks from the stroller immediately or else the little monsters will tear into them. Despite all of this, it's still fun to watch them in action and just accept that our home and yard are theirs to share too.

Wishing Everyone a Long Happy Weekend!

*** Afternoon Update***

So later today, I looked out the door to see another squirrel feasting on the bird feeder. But this squirrel was a bit plumper and there was something else different...
See the black circles on the belly? It's a nursing mama squirrel! This changed everything for me. I sat and wondered if she had to leave her litter with a daddy squirrel so she could grab a quick bite. Was this her one moment of quiet and peace? As a fellow breastfeeding mother, I could empathize with her ravenous hunger and possible desire to get away so I watched her for a few more minutes and sent a silent wish her way...

Bon Appetit, My Dear



14 comments:

Jen said...

Hilarious! I can no longer have birdfeeder or birdhouses b/c squirrels become easy prey to the dogs.

Enjoy your weekend!

Alicia said...

What a cheeky little munchkin!

Anonymous said...

Love it! We have a few acrobatic squirrels here, too :-) Happy weekend to you, my dear.

Tahara said...

How special to see that...It is also too funny!...I have never even thought about nursing squirrels, but I guess they do :-)

Unknown said...

this is way too sweet...

gardenmama said...

Oh my gosh! : ) How lucky for you to have seen this little mama. Great pictures!

cari said...

Another constantly hungry nursing mama here. :-) How fun that you caught all this on film!

Unknown said...

oh wow...what a fun post! and how cool to see a nursing mama as well! i'm really into wildlife yards and gardens, we are trying to work with it here too...it's alot of fun!

FrontierDreams said...

aww you made my day with this post!! you know of my love for squirrels!! we never get the honor of seeing nursing mama squirrels though!! i'm jealous!

anyways i'm getting back on the computer slowly and i will write you soon. thank you so very very much from the bottom of my heart for your last email <3 <3

Anonymous said...

I used to love making these birdfeeders with my parents when I was little - and it was generally the squirrels that feasted on them.
I just got you added to the W.I.P. list - so glad to have you with us!

RunninL8 said...

That is SO wonderful! And teets! You helped out a fella mama!!!! I think we'll have to make our local squirrel friend, Chit-chat, a peanut butter treat as well!

Anonymous said...

Awww! How cool is that?!?!

dongdong said...

love that!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I love this. In this way, and many others, we creatures are all alike.