I’ve talked about squirrels before, including a comment from an exterminator that people only think squirrels are cute because of their bushy tails, and, without those cute tails, they’d just look like big rats.
Anyway, I’m not all that fond of them, and, as of Thursday morning, I’m not fond of them at all.
They’ve been racing around the back yard, frantically searching for pecans. They stop, mid-race, and begin to burrow for buried pecans. There are no buried pecans. This is, apparently, a non-pecan year for us. Last year, even with marauding squirrels, we had some pecans. Not tons. But some. This year–nothing. Nada. Nary a nut. The squirrels haven’t noticed. Or, they just don’t believe it’s true. No nuts this year.
Which does NOT keep them from gamely trying. After rummaging around in the yard, they’re now trying the patio plants. Where there are also no pecans. I purchased, from the nursery, some spray that’s supposed to be a squirrel deterrent. It’s a safe product (won’t harm humans, or, for that matter, squirrels); it’s just supposed to be obnoxious to them. It doesn’t appear to be all that annoying to them, but I keep trying. I spray it on the patio plants. I spray it around the perimeter of the patio. It smells bad to me, but it seems not to have that effect on squirrels. But I was particularly irritated yesterday morning when I walk outside and found . . .
The Before Photo
Oh, no. There’s NOT a “Before” photo. Only an “After” photo.
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- A container that I particularly liked held some impatiens flowers.
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- In an amazing irony, that planter was sitting on this container, RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE SQUIRREL SPRAY.
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- The pot was so pretty, with this design on the front.
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- Now, the flowers are on their way to the compost, and the pot shards are on their way to the trash can.
There are pits in the dirt of many of the patio pots, where squirrels have been digging. You know, just in case there might be a crunchy pecan in there.
And don’t even say, “Well, they were there first.” No, they were not here first. When all the houses in this area were built, it was pretty much prairie. There wasn’t a tree anywhere near, and certainly not a pecan tree. And, I suppose you’ll say, well, when your dad dug a big ol’ hole into which he planted a pecan tree, he was just asking for it. I’m pretty sure that, when he planted that tree, there weren’t any squirrels. Yet.
I wonder if, next fall, I could get ahead of the game and strew a bunch of peanuts around the yard, the squirrels would be preoccupied with them, and leave alone whatever pecans there might be. It could work out for the squirrels, as getting peanuts out of a peanut shell would be much easier than pecans.
God made all sorts of wild animals and cattle and reptiles. And God was pleased with what he had done.
Genesis 1:25 (The Living. Bible)
I guess this means that I should be pleased, also. I’m trying.