A meal as big as he is

I heard some chattering in my backyard recently and when I looked out the back door I saw this squirrel chewing on an avocado almost as big as he was. He ate for a few more minutes and then dropped it on the ground. He didn't bother to throw his leftovers in the trash.

I googled "squirrels in downey" and found this interesting article about a transplanted squirrel species, the Eastern fox squirrel, that is affecting the native Western gray squirrel population. I think I'm harboring a member of the invasion army.

“Sitting under a tree in a park in the summer, listening to birds and squirrels chirping while reading a good book is priceless.”
~ Charmaine J. Forde

Nuts about nuts

We recently hung this squirrel feeder on a tree in our front yard. It has been fun to watch some of our local squirrels scurry up and down the tree snatching nuts to munch on.

Oops, I guess we did not hang it up well enough, because the next time I went to check on the squirrels, this is what I saw.

The wild side

Downey has a wild side. We have the opossums, the racoons, and the occasional coyote. And we have a lot of squirrels.

Originally, I tried to set up a bird feeder in my yard. But the squirrels kept chasing the birds away and stealing the food, no matter how inaccessible I thought I was making it. So I finally gave in and just fed the squirrels.

And I have to admit, they're a lot of fun to watch.

An Aesop's fable?

OK, sometimes yard art can make you scratch your head.

From my own experience with squirrels burying their walnuts in every conceivable place in the garden, I imagine this fed-up response from the frog. "That's one too many nuts in my pond! Get out, before I douse you with a lily pad bucket-full of water!"

Palm crazy

On a recent walk, I started noticing all the different kind of palms growing in our neighborhood. This interesting blossom is on a banana palm.  This next one was next to the banana palm and might have been part of it, but I wasn't sure. But this "fruit" or whatever it was certainly was interesting. It also had dozens of flies buzzing all around it.

I was walking past this last palm with my dog, who all of a sudden was alert and staring up at the top of a really tall palm tree. It reminded me of the movie "Up." If you've seen it, you probably picked up the same favorite phrase. A great part of the movie was how any sighting of a squirrel completely distracted any dog at any time.  "Squirrel!" Yes, there was a squirrel scrambling up the palm tree. Which, of course, I had not noticed at all. (You'll probably have to look closely to spot him.)

A squirrel's eye view (Theme week: Looking down)

We passed by and almost didn't notice him. This little squirrel was in the middle of what looked to be a really good scratch. Of course, once he spotted us watching him, he stopped scratching and stared right back down at us. I have to admit, I broke contact first...of course, I had to do that in order to take a picture.

Guard squirrel

 

On my walk this particular morning, I came across this squirrel who kept an eye on me as I was passing by. He was definitely "guarding" his backyard and tree from any intruders.

The colors of the riverbed

On a bike ride along the Rio San Gabriel this morning we noticed all these colorful plants growing in the currently mostly dry riverbed. It seems like it was just a few weeks ago that it was full of water, and now, it is full of these flowers and grasses (and trees). It looked landscaped in some places, but with a fun "wild" appeal.

It made me wonder where the different plants come from. Are they planted by the same squirrels who plant the walnut and fig trees in my yard? Come to think of it, lots of things I've never planted have come up in my yard over the past few years. Maybe the Downey squirrels are smarter than we think. Kinda makes you wonder.

Squirrel time

It's that time of the year. The squirrels have been all over the place and they are downright bold, cavorting around the yard.

These two were especially fun. I actually ran to get my camera this morning when I noticed the squirrels playing hopscotch on the fence. They were hysterical to watch.



Clearly, the hopscotch was a little too much for this guy. He just laid there and watched his playmate eat a bottlebrush blossom off one of my trees.

Acting squirrelly

The squirrels in our neighborhood are not the shy creatures you might expect. They make themselves at home wherever the mood strikes them. I'm not sure if this guy is eating a walnut from a neighbor's tree or one of the few lemons that was left on my patio lemon tree, but he brought his "prize" over to eat in one of our pine trees this afternoon.

Clearly I pushed this bold one past his comfort zone and he decided to take his snack and move to a more secure location. He actually looks irritated at me!

Caught in the act!

We often have squirrels in our yard. They are a common sight in Downey. We even have a feeder for the squirrels. It is filled with unsalted, unshelled peanuts. Evidently we ran out and this squirrel was not okay with that. Here he is in a bird feeder, eating the bird seed. If you look closely, or enlarge, you can see a seed stuck on his nose!

Neighborly hello...

Usually, the only wildlife in my back yard are the sparrows scrounging my garden for tasty six legged meals, but on occasion, we get a different set of searching eyes dropping by to say hello. This squirrel was looking like she was ready to pop (or just had) and went high and low in my backyard looking for food and safety for her young. Whatever she was looking for, she didn't find it. She took off and I haven't seen her since.

I love spring!

 
I absolutely love this time of the year in southern California. The gardens are blooming, the weather is mostly pleasant, the days are longer and we get to see more wildlife.  I'm sometimes surprised how many "wild" critters there are around Downey.

This morning I was greeted by a little squirrel who was taking his breakfast in one of my pine trees out back. Interestingly enough the squirrel was actually eating one of the softer, new pine cones like we eat corn on the cob. It was fun to watch until Ivan (my Husky) spotted him. I'm sure if Ivan could talk he would have shouted "Squirrel" like the dogs in the movie "Up." Needless to say, my morning squirrel watching was over for the day.

It's never too late to start planning for the future

I love that Downey is still filled with squirrels. This little guy ran up the tree when I approached with Ivan.

When I got closer, I saw that he was protecting the nut he found. He's probably going to bury it in my yard — we seem to sprout a new little walnut tree every few weeks.