Mr. Squirrel Smiled at Me. Squirrels 11, Humans 0

I was looking for snack food at Sam's Club and saw an enormous bag of peanuts in the shell. I thought that might be fun to eat, a little at a time. Once home, I was tempted to put a few peanuts on the window ledge.

Every so often I put a few out and closed the window. Birds and squirrels quickly adapt to random food and come looking for it. Soon I had three small squirrels stopping by to look for food. Sassy Sue got used to the traffic.

I was careful to open the window a little bit, push some peanuts out, and close it again. I was concerned about the squirrel getting into the room, revving Sassy, and racing around the house in a panic. I was even more concerned about my wife's reaction to such an event and the inevitable growth of the tale afterwords.

I saw a lot of squirrel traffic one day, so I edged the window up an inch. Just as I pushed a peanut out, a squirrel came by and grabbed it. The saucy little thing sat on the ledge and ate it, smiling. The picture above is not mine. I really saw the squirrel smile.

They are all laughing at me. I got the squirrel-proof bird feeder to prevent them from looting the seed. I added the baffle for $13.50 to keep them from climbing the pole, once they learned to get at the feeder and pump the bar. Soon they stood on the baffle to pump the bar.

This squirrel is demonstrating how to use the bar to jiggle seed.
Why sit on it and close off an abundant supply of sunflower seeds?

I let the worthless baffle slip down to the ground. Now the squirrels climb the pole, hold on with one front leg, and pump the bar with the other front leg. I have also seen them pump the bar with both front legs. Rather that keep them from eating, the bar serves to jiggle seed into their mouths.

They are more entertaining now. First the bar jiggle is fun to watch. Squirrels are athletic and inventive. They can get at the feeder from every angle. The second part is fun, too. They get a few seeds, jump over to the ledge, and eat while keeping an eye on me while I work or watch.

A chipmunk has climbed up to the ledge to eat, but he simply stuffs his mouth with as many seeds as possible, and leaves. He must have figured out that the ledge was more productive than the ground where he got the scattered seed.

Sassy Sue's window is next to me and behind the bed. She parks at the window and watches over her neighborhood. She is quite upset when a chipmunk comes up to the secondary feeder below her window. She also watches for the fox that seems to appear from time to time. Then Sassy bays like a German Shepherd, "The fox is here, come to kill us all." The Shelties join the chorus, "Kill us all. Kill us all."

Treasure smiles when she is looking for food,
for attention she lifts up one front paw.

If the UPS truck drives up, Sassy bays again, "The UPS driver is here, come to kill us all." The Shelties add to the noise. "All, All. He will kill us all."

If someone rings the bell and waits for me, Sassy runs to the door and barks at it, warning whoever is ringing that she will defend the entire house. She races to me, "Hurry. Hurry. You open the door. I will attack at once." I open the door and Sassy wiggles outside for petting and a greeting. Everyone loves her at once.

At the dog park I warn people that she is loud but gentle. The only problem has been with large, intimidating dogs. I have decided to leave when a pit bull is present. Those dogs are gifted with muscle and no brain.

Sassy is just starting to learn dog racing. Most breeds love to chase around the park, but they cannot catch a ball or bring it back. One mutt spent about 30 minutes deciding what a ball was before stealing Sassy's. The bright orange ball is magical to the other dogs, because Sassy catches it, gets applause, and brings it back while everyone talks about her. The dogs ignore 10 balls on the ground for Sassy's magical toy.

Sassy Sue watches me while I work, clamping down on my
right arm when she wants attention.
When I give up, she rolls over and laughs.
"Tummy rub time."

Dog Park Star and Entertainer - Sassy Sue

Our granddaughter was not hurt when the chair went over.
She held her pose for the photograph,
and Sassy Sue came into the shot to smile.
We were all laughing.

Nothing shows Sassy Sue's character more than this photo. Danielle fell over in the easy chair, a very soft landing. We were all laughing as I said, "Hold it so I can get a photograph." Sassy saw me get the camera ready and poked herself into the shot, grinning.

Sassy smiles a lot and gets other smiling.

She is the star of the Bentonville dog park. In 30 months only one dog has been able to duplicate her catches and bringing back the ball. Maggie, a black lab, did that the other week. Maggie even alternated with Sassie in catching the ball. They had a great time together.

Today Boomer, perhaps an Irish setter, also planted herself in the right spot to catch the high pop flies I toss to Sassy. Everyone had a big laugh with Boomer getting in the way, catching the ball, and running off with it. Sassie waited for her chance and tried again.

Children love to toss the ball to her and ask to pet her. One little girl did that for about 10 minutes when she suddenly said, "Sassy only has three legs!" Children often overlook the missing leg, but adults also watch her for a time without noticing.

Sassy watches out the window during the day and works me over emotionally about her trip to the dog park. She sits at my feet and mews. She looks sad. She comes into the garage with me and points at the car - her favorite thing. Cattle dogs are known for managing their owners.

Recently I took her along to the Bentonville Post Office. She knows a mail trip ends at the dog park. However, when I turned left for the post office, she looked at me like I was lost. The dog park is a right at the light. Everyone knows that. She was happy later, when we headed south for her favorite place to play.

She loves the orange ball, which is necessary but not sufficient for her fun. It must be the orange ball and the dog park.

If we go out to the back yard to toss her ball, she looks around and brings it back once. She makes it clear that playing catch in BV is not close to the fun of the dog park. It is only a sad reminder of what she is missing.

Favicon Installed

Norma Boeckler designed this photo from one taken by Animal House Studios in Bella Vista, Arkansas.

Google Blogger has made it easy to install a favicon, a small image that appears in the browser window.

I used a photo taken by our granddaughter Josie, at the park in Glendale, Arizona.

Danielle Greets Sassy Sue by Name. Squirrel Defies Baffle Again, In Spite of Trimmed Bush

Sassy Sue and I had to do some banking, so we stopped at Dairy Queen. Danielle was there to give us a large vanilla cone and greet us. Danielle looked up this blog. I thought I mentioned her in the last post, but that was probably something I published on Facebook.

We went to DQ for Father's Day on Saturday. Danielle met most of our son's family and said to Martin, "I see your father three times a week." He said, "Dad!" as if I would feel guilty. Three is just when I see Danielle. Others are there at different times.

DQ is relatively low in carbs, and I avoid the candy extras, like those Blizzards (invented in my hometown of Moline).

Those Saucy Squirrels
It was bad enough to see the squirrel use my $15 baffle to rest his leg while eating from my squirrel-proof bird-feeder. He used the bush for his other leg. My solution was to trim the bush away, leaving him no access from the bottom.

The next time I saw him on the roof of the bird-feeder, hanging down and using the bar to open and close the feeder, shaking seeds into his greedy mouth.

My failures include:
1. The feeder itself, because he climbed up and held onto the pole with one arm while manipulating the bar with the other one.
2. The baffle, since he used it as a footstool to reach the feeder and shake seeds into his mouth.
3. The bush-trimming, which only forced him to land on top the feeder and hang down while using the bar to shake sunflower seeds loose.

Note this link I am putting on the permanent list. If you like watching God's Creation, the photos and stories are excellent.

Squirrel Baffle Update: Spoiled Entitlement Squirrel Uses Baffle To Reach Food

Here is someone's video, showing how clever squirrels are.

I have been placing peanuts on the window sill, mostly for the squirrels, but also for any birds (like blue jays) that love them.

The new baffle from the hardware store was working well since Sunday - so I thought.

Today I watched a squirrel reach the squirrel-proof bird-feeder and eat from it, using the bush as one foot-rest and the bottom of the baffle as the other. He was a little unsteady but ate continuously and happily.

Some may remember that I faced this Olympic athlete before. I cut away all the bush props at the other feeder, because he reached up into it with his tiny paws. After losing the lower perch, he dangled down from above, his hind legs allowing him to clutch the bush while his front paws scooped seed from the bird-feeder.

Squirrel - Proof Friendly Feeder Raises Score to 11-0.Squirrel Baffles Humans, Defeats Squirrel-Proof Feeder

For Father's Day last year I got a squirrel-proof bird feeder. We were all enchanted with the blue jays nesting in a bush outside the bedroom window, within eyesight of my computer desk. The squirrels are abundant, so I got the model illustrated above, with weight on the bar keeping the seed locked up.

Birds are so light that many can feed on that bar without lowering it and shutting off the food supply.

This worked well for an entire year. I fed the squirrels field corn and a new composite type of corn. When I bought a bag of peanuts in the shell, for snacks, I decided to share them on the window sill. I lift up the window, place some peanuts on the ledge, and watch them feed.

Recently two fed at once on the window sill. I thought they would fight, but instead, one groomed the other, chewing through the pal's fur. Suddenly they sat up and faced each other. Turf battle? The Sill-marillion? No, they touched paws and faces in a quick little friendship move. Grooming resumed after.

For Father's Day this year, the squirrel decided to defeat me again. He climbed the pole of the bird-feeder, held on with one arm, and pumped the bar to jiggle sunflower seed out into his mouth.

I had my wife come and watch the show. She said, "Time to take down the feeder!" I said, "No, this is entertaining. Besides, I can put a baffle on the pole."

Sassy Sue and I went to hardware store for a baffle. Duncraft sells a large one for about $30. I can imagine an ad saying, "Perfect for our formerly squirrel-proof feeders!"

Sassy went outside with me to install the bracket under the baffle. Unlike the photo above, our land is fairly level and Sassy's friends live next door. They love to have her walk over and greet them. I have to watch them, since Homer is a grouch who thinks Sassy is too peppy and loud. Sometimes he sits in the corner and looks disgusted. Once he bowled her over. Sassy watches for cues from me. I call her back after a few seconds of mutual greetings.

Sassy Sue is quite popular around town. At the dog park, children love to throw her ball and watch her snatch it out of the air, bringing it back. Very few dogs retrieve balls. I have not seen one that brings it back to the owner's hands.

More significantly, Sassy Sue astonishes the audience by jumping up with her three legs to get the ball. No one is surprised when she plants herself and catches the ball with a loud "Swak!" sound on the way down. But when she is running full speed away from me and grabs it before it hits the ground, everyone says, "How does she do that?" I am still impressed, after seeing it done many times.

One father was far away with several small children. Soon they were all behind me, watching the show. Next they were participating. More than one girl has said, "Sassy is a bossy dog!" I usually answer, "They gave her the right name." I have not heard a dog talking so much at the park. Sassy tells me to hurry up when we walk toward the gate. She barks loudly at her friends inside the park.

People see the loving nature of Sassy right away. She has a shy smile that invites petting, and she asks for more. She recently sat in my lap, put her paws around my neck, and hugged me. If she can involve two of us in petting her at the same time, that is perfect.

I happened to stop at Dairy Queen without Sassy in the back seat. The young woman gave me the cone I always share with the family and asked, "Where is Sassy Sue?"

Sassy's new duty includes watching for the fox in our yard. Our daughter-in-law first spotted it last year, but I thought that was just a chance sighting, an animal walking through. The fox must live in the wooded lot and prowl our yard a lot.

Sassy's perch is on top of my pillow, looking out the bedroom window that faces the wooded lot. This is where she keeps track of everything on our little street. Dogs and cats do not trouble her (except on TV) but that fox sends her into hunting mode.

I have seen the fox walking back into the woods, thanks to her alarms.

When I go to the kitchen, three dogs follow me, in case I am getting something they like. They love the sound of things being unwrapped. When I make a cheese sandwich, they expect some, lining up shoulder to shoulder.

I normally ask, "Would the Three Little Piggies like some cheese?"

They move forward one step, in unison. When I told this story in a sermon, Sassy's ears perked up.

Sassy Sue Vocabulary
I have lost track of how many sounds Sassy Sue can make. She has a German Shepherd vocabulary and all the strange vocal habits of the Cattle Dog, derived from the wild Dingo which is part of the breed's DNA.

She rarely warbles, but it is fun to hear. One night she saw her reflection in the bedroom window, since the inside light was on. She sat up and warbled, warning us about the dog in the window.

When I stop at the bank or post office, she sticks half her body out of the window and gives me a loud bark, once or twice. She grins at me and sits on my seat until I return. People find it comical when they see her in the driver's seat.

Last week I stopped at the vet's office to pick up medicine. Sassy's last trip earned her some shots. I left the window down. She stuck her body out and gave a long warbling warning cry. I understood. "No more shots!"

Disappearing Suet Rouses Our Dogs at 2 AM

I was asleep when all three dogs began carrying on. I heard odd noises around the window, where the birds feed and suet hangs. I just put new suet in the baskets. A third basket disappeared on the front side of the house, so I suspected a raccoon. Last year they put an end to the large bags of suet being hung outside, since each one lasted a day.

I keep a flashlight on the window sill, but I could not find the culprit at first. I waited until the burgling sounds started again. I shone the light at the window. The shameless raccoon faced into the light, a symbol of thievery and greed, his masked face limned with hunger. With my flashlight beam illuminating him, he reached up and effortless unhooked the basket holding the suet. It fell to the ground and he went down to finish it off.

We live in the woods, above a ravine, not too far from a creek. We enjoy seeing God's Creation at work around us.