Apr 062021
 

You guys. My patience and obsessive nature finally paid off yesterday. One of the Buddys let me hand-feed him! Normally, the brown squirrels (never the gray ones; they’re super skittish) will accept snacks from my hand through the window but I wanted the challenge of feeding them from outside of my house.

Two weekends ago, I was getting RULL close to success but the Buddy I had targeted kept doing the handshake-fake out on me every single time, like to the point where I expected him to run his hand paw through his hair fur.

Yesterday on my lunch break, I was sitting on the porch, trying to coax my favorite of all the Buddys to TAKE THE FUCKING PECAN when Haley came outside to water her plants. She started laughing at me because this is like A Thing now, not a secret, and I wailed, “I AM DETERMINED!”

“I mean, he’s sitting right there on the porch with you so he’s clearly not afraid of you, you’ll get it!” Haley said, in the encouraging words of a True Mom. And you know what? I took her words and ran with them and I DID INDEED GET IT!

It turns out he didn’t want a pecan – he wanted a WALNUT! Good thing I have a veritable squirrel buffet inside my house to choose from. We currently have: peanuts, walnuts, pecans, filberts, and various types of seeds. Don’t worry – I always check first to make sure what I’m feeding them is safe! For instance, not all peanuts are good for them!

Squirrel watching has really kept me going through the pandemic. Being home so much, especially WORKING FROM HOME, has been pretty depressing but these little guys are so entertaining and I don’t care what anyone says–they’re my best Buddys. Sometimes when I feed them through the window, their tails brush my hand and IT IS THE BEST FEELING I LOVE THEM SOOOOO MUCH OMG HELP ME I NEED A LIFE.

This picture cracks me up – squirrel soirée! Also, don’t mind the messy porch/yard. Henry started redoing the flower-area and true to form, he moved on to other things before finishing. (He will read this and start yelling about how IT IS TOO SOON TO PLANT FLOWERS AND HE WAS JUST GETTING IT READY blah blah OK Farmer Henry’s Almanac.)

 

  3 Responses to “Pioneer Ave Petting Zoo”

  1. It’s always a thrill when a wild animal gets so close. I never get tired of it. For us it’s deer, moose, raccoons, the occasional skunk. Squirrels, rarely seen in the trees around our farmyard, never stay long. Too many barn cats. I like to think the squirrels leave for safer spaces before a cat gets them. -Kate

    • It really is! I grew up on a dead-end street surrounded nearly on all sides by woods, so we got a ton of deer, turkey, and foxes that would visit our backyard. Before everything turned into housing developments (ugh) there were quite a few farms in the area. There was a peacock that lived on one of them and it would often escape and be seen strutting around the ‘burbs, lol. My mom sends pictures of her visitors and it’s like she lives on a nature preserve!

      Living in the city, we just have birds and squirrels (with the occasional rabbit from time to time) so it’s been exciting having the squirrels get so close to us!

  2. FARMER HENRY’S ALMANAC! I’ll bet he knows what zone you guys are in for planting right off the top of his head.

Say it don't spray it.

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