In the absence of a squirrel hawk, Gambol does his best.

Gambol 1; Squirrel 0
The boys chased air molecules and small critters in the meadow for almost 2 hours while I raked under the fruit trees and picked rocks.  I thought "we" were tired and ready for dinner but I gave the normal out command at the top of the hill.  Both dogs raced off to see what they could see.  Buddy treed a squirrel under the bird feeder and almost knew it. Gambol did his big circle, down to the septic mound and around behind the summer kitchen fire pit.  I don't like him there at this time of evening because porcupines have done a lot of damage to the trees back there and I doubt that he has learned from his 2 encounters.
He gave a squeaky yelp, not his normal "I've got a squirrel in a tree and need a hawk NOW." call but more a cry of pain. Twice.  I was sure I'd be on the way to the emergency room with a car full of quilled dog mouth.  Not so.   He came prancing out, head held high and so proud (or hungry) that he really didn't want to give up his trophy (especially to Buddy).

I suppose I should tear off the haunches and treat the hunter.

Stew time?

Was it a story in Grimm's fairy tales that told of a tailor killing 7 flies with one blow?  I count 16 squirrels here.  Could that be 1 squirrel stew pot?

Spring peepers

We heard faint sounds of spring today coming from the seep but didn't go down to investigate.
Every Sunday morning I fight with the squirrels to keep them off the hanging feeder. They have experienced the splat and thud of leaping from 30 feet up, but they really haven't learned, or don't really care, that eating at the bird cafe irritates me. Today I swung open the door a second too late to catch a gray mid leap but waved my arms and screamed my "Get off. Go home." scream loud enough to confuse the squirrel and make him forget which direction he wanted to go. He slid a few more feet down then twisted around to climb up a foot or two, then twisted and headed back down to the seeds. He changed direction several times before my screeches got to him and he leapt for the forest floor. I've never seen a squirrel change direction on the rope.

New squirrel fun

We hauled the big extension ladder up from the Toy Shed and hung a new feeder from a branch about 30 feet up the oak directly in front of the deck. We put a 1" PCV pipe around the rope to protect it from squirrels. I expected it to be wobbly like bones on a rope. It's on a pulley and loops around a tree. The feeder can be raised and lowered; now it's about 15 feet off the ground but only a giant leap from an overhanging branch. I bought the feeder, which weighs 10 lbs empty, from the Bird House (a mom and pop garage store) outside of Black Moshannon Park.
Now the squirrels have a challenge. It has taken them some time to find the source of spilled seeds. Sometimes they don't get the right branch. We go out and clap or yell and they dive for the ground. Thuwmph. They land and scatter but don't learn. I'm afraid the bones would have to be at least 3" in diameter. We have to protect the feeder from early morning till about 10:00 and again in the late afternoon. This feeder is well made; it only has 3 seed holes so not a lot is spilled.

Encouraging and discouraging

Encouraging a jake
Seriously cool. I just confused the 1-2” bearded jake. He was at the corn so I got the squawk box and yelped a few times. He looked up every time. It sort of wore off so I got the slate. He gobbled and fanned. He was looking straight at me from the driveway. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d flown up to the deck. He didn’t, but I held his attention for maybe 15 min. We “chatted” for a couple. He ran off up the hill but came back once with some encouragement from the box. I have a couple of picts but the deck rails are in the way. That’s how close he was, and it’s awfully hard to yelp and take picts at the same time. I didn’t even have the door more than cracked. I didn’t notice the fanned tail feathers’ length. I’ll have to get him back to measure.
Seriously cool.

Discouraging the squirrels
On the squirrel discouragement front, I changed feeders and moved it to the pine tree next to the corn area. It took a few min for everyone to find the new food site. I watched a squirrel climb a really spindly 2” maple to several feet above the feeder, jump (with a twist) down maybe 3 feet and land directly on top of the feeder. I went out and yelled. He crouched then ran down the safe way, but left the feeder alone. I’m not sure he could see it from where he was. It’s kind of protected by needles. (A little bit.) Anyway, it’s been out for 2 hrs now and the squirrels are still cleaning up the old site and working the corn, but the little birds have found it. Doves, crows, cardinals, blue jays, even a flicker and redbellied, and, of course, the turkey have chowed down on the corn this morning. An interesting difference between these squirrels and the Bellevue Skippy is that these guys don't seem to ever get full and don't rush off to bury the leftovers.

Later:
One climbed up the quince where the sunflowers used to be. He looked around; I could almost see him scratching his head. Another (or maybe the same one, they mostly look alike to me) climbed up to the higher pine branch, higher than the deck and it’s a good 10-15 feet over the branch where the feeder hangs. He went out to the tips of several branches looking. More head scratching. He’d lean out over and try the smallest branches he could. At one time I though he was going to leap. He went down below the feeder on the ground at some dropped seeds and looked up. The light bulb went on. He climbed to the correct branch and directly to the feeder. Amazing psychology study. It took maybe 45 min of this experimenting and GPS positioning to figure it out. When I went out to clap and yell at him, he scurried off.

Groundhogs Day?
Back in February Phil of Puxatauney fame predicted an early Spring. He was dead on; we had temps in the upper 60s and low 70s for a while. The rest of the story must have been that there'd also be an early winter: some human forecasters are calling for 10" snow this weekend! Today was the first time I've seen our gh. and he was down by the mound, not in the meadow where he normally is seen. Quite a traveler that guy.

Little red squirrel

Spring is near. I can feel it. I noticed some tree buds yesterday and today I’m watching a little red (I think) squirrel chow down on the bird suet. I saw 2 chipmunks racing through the snow, the first sighting of the season of them. The gold finches are blotchy yellow instead of their winter drab, and Dr. Cardinals (that's what Mom Kitty used to call them)seem brighter. And now I wake up to the sun coming over the mountains instead of waiting, warm under the covers, to watch it. There's lots of bird bickering, tail chasing and swooping after each other, too. Two deer visited the hill garden this afternoon. One looked much lighter in color than the dusky gray of winter. They both seemed well fed and healthy. Can daffodils be far behind?