They look so innocent, don't they? So cute, with their big eyes and those sweet little faces. They are so funny and entertaining to watch when they chase each other up and down the trees.
So so cute...
They are smart - too smart sometimes. Especially when they are looking for food. The bird feeders are no problem for them - they eat upside down if it has to be, no matter how uncomfortable that might be. And if they fall down, they simply get up again.
And when the bird feeders are empty? The squirrel is still hungry. So what does the smart squirrel do? S/he looks for other food sources.
They love sunflower seeds.
There are sunflowers in my garden. Let me rephrase that - there WERE sunflowers in my garden. Not as many as last year since the birds (and probably the squirrels as well) picked the seeds after I had put them in the ground. There weren't that many that they overlooked. But the few that actually made it into flowers were gorgeous.
I loved them.
So did the squirrels.
There wasn't a single sunflower that wasn't "killed" by the squirrels. When I saw the first "victimized" sunflower - or what was left of it - lying on the ground, I had no idea what had happened and I actually thought it was the skunks or the raccoons that frequent our garden almost every night. But then I saw a squirrel sitting at the base of a huge sunflower, looking up at the flower head and quickly racing up the stem, putting the plant to the ground - and taking off with the flower head. This happened within seconds.
I was speechless. Those flower heads were huge! Squirrels - not so much.
It was a quick and daring kill. As mad as I was, I also admired those little fearless beasts for their courage. I suspect that in this drought they are probably desperate for food.
The next thing I did was taking my camera and taking pictures of the remaining sunflowers before they became victims of my "sweet little innocent looking" friends.
None of the sunflowers has survived. And if there were a few left because the squirrels were going for the biggest flower heads, I took them inside and put them in a vase.
A very different sunflower year.
