Top Squizz

R and I spent most of the day consolidating our Christmas preparations - checking lists, wrapping gifts, and so on. The weather was dreary, and I was so tired that I doubt I'd have wanted to go out in any case, so when I put out some bird food this morning I just spread a sprinkling of ground mix along the patio wall, and kept an eye out through the kitchen window (and a camera handy), to see who took the bait.

This grey squirrel is The Man as far as our garden is concerned, though the healed tear in his right ear suggests that he hasn't always had things his own way. Right now though, whenever he wants to feed he's allowed to get on with it unmolested, and in consequence he's so fat that when he sits upright he looks like a Toby jug. That said, there's plenty of muscle there too: despite his bulk, he's the only squirrel we've ever seen evade the baffle on the pole of the bird feeding station by simply jumping from the lawn onto the lowest hanging feeder. I've also seen him perform an impressive parkour stunt on a couple of occasions, in which he jumps at the baffle and bounces off it onto the peanut feeder. R and I are inclined to think that this remarkable athleticism excuses the theft of a bit of bird food.