How adorable is he? Please feed the squirrels too!
When I was growing up we used to feed the squirrels at our kitchen windows. They got so tame we would just open the window and the little ones would take pieces of bread and treats right out of our hand. I adored them. Back then, in southern Illinois, there were chipmunks too and I dearly loved them. We don’t seem to have them here. I have lived in North Carolina for 25 years now and have never seen a chipmunk so I guess they are just not here, but we have squirrels a’plenty!
I have 5 large “squirrel-proof” feeders outside my studio windows. I have to use squirrel proof feeders or the squirrels would empty them all in a day! But if I put seed all along the windowsills for them they eat the food I put out for them and leave the feeders alone. If I see a squirrel dangling from the bird feeders I know their windowsill is empty! I rush right out and serve up another buffet! And it is my job each night. As soon as it is dark out I go out and use my leaf blower and blow off the deck really well and then spread two big cups of seed all along the windowsill. I also keep a step ladder against the wall so they have something to climb up. Amazingly when I get up, usually about 9, the windowsill is empty. I have gone out at 8 and they are pretty much empty too. They must come for their breakfast at the crack of dawn. I put more food out and then again by noon but then if I check at 2 there will still be food there. They seem to eat early and then they’re done by noon or so. The birds are out there in full force until it’s almost dark, but the squirrels finish up early. Oh they are so darling, such a delight!
Each night I blow off the porch and put the seed out for my little buddies…
It makes me sad that people will be zealous about keeping their bird feeders filled but will chase the squirrels off and never put anything out for them. They are hungry too! They are mamas and daddies too! And they are such little clowns and so much fun to watch. Real acrobats! I love feeding them and knowing that they are tucking up for the night with full tummies. And of course I keep a big bowl of fresh water out on the deck for the birds and the squirrels. With my pugs inside and my wild friends just outside the windows I can hardly get lonely!
And there’s more. Since the fire, after we moved back in 8 months later, I have barely gone outside at all. My garden was in ruins, and then gone. My beautiful angel orbs that I have shown pictures of here many times disappeared after the fire. They still appeared in photos at the rental house I had to live in while the house was rebuilt but far fewer and then none at all. They have never returned. It’s as if they came to save me from the fire, checked in at the rental house to make sure I was alright, and then went off to look after someone else. But now I am venturing outside again, I am feeding the wildlings and making them part of my daily life, and more and more little ones are appearing. In fact I was shocked to look out my kitchen window a few days ago and there was a bird SO big in the backyard, just strolling around pecking at the ground, that I thought at first it was an eagle! It was way bigger than a chicken, and then I thought perhaps it was a hawk? But it seems it was a buzzard! Gracious me! Everybody is coming to visit these days!
Inotherwords I am opening my heart again to the world outside these four walls. My property is very woodsy and backs up to a creek. I think there are far more wild ones out there than I can imagine. I know there are rats near the creek and we also have snakes but oddly in the 8 years I have lived here I have never, thank God, seen a snake, though there was one right next door last summer! I do see rats sometimes. If I don’t keep my deck blown off and clean they will come on the deck. They are hungry too but they will have to forage for themselves! I’m not going to encourage the rat population.
And the angel orbs? Who can say? I pray they will return. Maybe they were waiting for me to come back outside to greet them? I am seeing so many miracles in my life these days nothing would surprise me and I am wide open to receiving all kinds of miracles. For now I will commune with the birds and the squirrels and the buzzards too! But perhaps, one misty, moonlit night, the angel orbs will reappear. I would be filled with joy.
Life is filled with so many wonders, I look forward to each day now to see who or what will arrive. What a beautiful world it is if we have eyes to see…
The Experiment ~A 365 Day Search For Truth, Beauty &
Happiness: Day 1 ~ Introduction To The Project
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
Yoda
Hi Maitri, I call my home and garden #myparadise, but yours also has a paradise feeling to it. All the positivity and buddies are so abundantly present, breathe them all into your heart and soul, and you will be filled up with great joy and happiness… ❤️❤️❤️
Ah my dear Claudine, you are so right. This, too, is my Paradise, but I am only just rediscovering it, and it is glorious, and magical, and full of wonder, and yes, joy. How did I possibly survive closed in in a tiny space, my back to the outside world that frightened me? I did not survive easily or well, that’s for certain. We have to connect to nature to be well. Maybe some day I will even create a garden again. I tried, this last summer, to begin again in a small way but I got overwhelmed and let it all be overtaken with weeds, and as I saw that happening I turned away from it and wouldn’t even look. Gardening has always been such a huge thing in my life since I turned 40. It was my greatest joy, I would be outside from morning until it was too dark to work at night. And I HAD truly created a magical paradise here with lots of garden art, my beloved Magic Ship and so many roses and plants and flowers you couldn’t count. But the Magic Ship was destroyed right after the fire, and not living here most of a year over a terribly hot summer when things just withered and died. It was the end of a magical story and it broke my heart. And now with neither the money or the energy to begin again I felt bereft just thinking of it. Perhaps one day…
It’s good to see you here today sweet one. It means a lot to me. I hope your day has gone well, it is night now in Belgium. I hope you sleep well tonight…
Love,
Maitri
Ever since we moved 6 miles East of where we used to live a mile up from the highway, we never see a squirrel. There were a lot of them at our other house including some white ones. But here we have the chipmunks. My husband keeps the bird feeder filled, then he sits by the window as he wakes up and watches the birds eat. I think the little birds have nests in the bushes.
We had deer, wild turkeys and an occasional bear at our other house. It was more in the woods than we are here.
So happy you are enjoying your birds and squirrels.
Jean
Oh Jean, how you must miss it! And WHITE squirrels! How marvelous! And OH MY GRACIOUS THERE IS A SQUIRREL DANGLING FROM THE BIRD FEEDER! I’ve got to rush out and take them some food! They are late here today! Oh me! Here I go!!! 😀
We had bird feeders at our last house. They were only somewhat squirrel proof with a baffle platform which would prevent squirrels from climbing the pole to the feeders. They often valiantly tried anyway! The birds usually dropped or scattered enough seed on the ground that there was actually lots for the squirrels too. They are quite the acrobats and we would often see them jumping from nearby tree branches towards the feeders. Sometimes they were successful! You could sort of see different personalities among them in terms of their persistence and ingenuity.
Where I live now, in an apartment building, we have a big green space which has lots of very mature trees. Many squirrels and birds live in those trees. Some people who live on the ground level do have feeders out in front of their patio, including someone who lives right near the front door. I can watch the birds who gather around that feeder when I am waiting out front for a ride.
People also used to put out peanuts in the shell or torn bread (which I don’t think is good for either birds or squirrels) on large decorative boulders in the green space. But, that also attracted skunks, so it is no longer allowed. 🙂
Hi Joan! I remember you saying in another post back awhile now that you used to have bird feeders and squirrels in your yard too but not in the apartment. Too bad about the skunks, they are darling and really don’t bother you unless you frighten them. In my favorite, most beloved books, the Stillmeadow books by Gladys Taber, she talked about how they fed the birds but also put out food for the other wildlife and there was a charming skunk that came back every year and was very sweet and tame. Of course she also fed ferral cats. There was one out here today and I felt bad but I’m not going to feed cats who might kill all my beloved birds here in what has really become a bird sanctuary. There are hundreds of visitations of all kinds of birds every day. It’s amazing how I waited a week after I filled all the feeders and worried no one would come, but once they first one came a week later they came in droves! And when we had the big (for us!) snow that lasted for several days on top of a layer of ice there were so many birds here I couldn’t believe it. If I opened the door to go out with the dogs the flock of birds taking flight was almost shocking! Ah, we have what life around us that we can. And it’s nice you can enjoy seeing them in your trees. I think it’s especially important for me because I live alone and it gives me little people to take care of. That matters a lot to me… 🙂