This morning's sun
the only good thing about a smoke filled sky
So
After spending my early evenings in summer cooling my jets in the camp chair, watching these tree rats do their peculiar things, I looked ‘em up to make sure I know what I’m talking about
On the left
Is a yellow pine chipmunk
He’s got the stripes on his cheeks
He doesn’t worry about storing much, as he sleeps thru winter
On the right
Is a golden mantled ground squirrel
A bit larger than his neighbor and no stripes on the cheeks
Speaking of cheeks
There is room for possibly two more grains of cracked corn
The reason he mostly eats is that’s what he does
He too hibernates, but has even less to worry about as he’s protected
(Hawks don’t know this)
This
Is a Douglas squirrel
actually, he's doggin' it
He doesn’t sleep thru winter
Of which explains being seen dawn to dusk, gathering
The one we see and hear all day has been dubbed 'Zippy'
His early season route as approx 500 yds south to 100 yds north from the proximity of our cabin
We can hear him zip across our metal roof around 7:30 every spring morn
His route is quite systematic
As the season progresses, his route shortens
I’d forgot this, and a few mornings ago, hearing something hitting our roof and flopping noises near the cabin, prompted me to grab my shotgun and head out the door
There he was
Dropping cones from the tree
Then gathering them and heading south to the edge of the thicket
Early on, he’d go from tree to tree
Now, since he’s so close to his place, he hops and scampers thru the woods
He is not protected
And that, children, is yer nature lesson of the day
nthego:
