Snowy Tells His Sad Story

It's been really cold here, so I slept in this morning, and then sat on the deck railing right next to the bird squirrel feeder for a while, trying to warm up. I was gazing out at the trees beyond the fence, when I suddenly spotted a new little squirrel, who looked a lot like me, except the end of his tail looked as if a cat or something had pulled some of the hair out of it. You can see him in the first extra photo, looking pretty pitiful.

Just in case he had any intentions about taking over MY territory, I made it clear that he needed to think again. ( In case you've never heard a Douglas squirrel alarm call like mine, the nice old lady who lives in the house that has the deck provided a good one for you.) I told that new squirrel a thing or two with my expressive vocalizations!

But that didn't stop Tufty -- the  name the old lady gave him, for his weird tail -- from coming right up on the deck! Some of the time I was chasing him, and some of the time he was chasing me. It went on forever!

I hate to admit it, but Tufty won. He really liked the easy pickings that a bird squirrel feeder provides. So do I! I felt sad that he won today, as you can see in the second extra photos, where Tufty is hunkered down on a big slab of bird squirrel food, but I'm pretty sure that the old folks who fill the feeder will put in enough for both of us. They were both peering out the windows, taking photos of us for a long time this morning! They even came out on the deck, but Tufty and I didn't pay any attention to them.

There will be another fight brewing if Tufty tries to get cozy with my girlfriend... She should be showing up pretty soon!

(More on Douglas squirrels here.)

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