“Squirrels for nuts contend, and, wrong or right,
For the world’s empire, kings ambitious - fight.
What odds? – to us, ‘tis all the self same thing,
A nut, a world, a tiny squirrel, and a king.”
Charles Churchill
The word seems to spread very quickly
When one runs a ‘critter friendly’ place
And our latest little visitor around here
Has been putting a big smile on my face
I first encountered these black squirrels
Several years ago, at Kent State University
They had been introduced there from Canada
And now, they truly rule that campus with glee
They are extremely intelligent little critters
Little Blackie loves tapping on our windows
And he simply refuses to stop his chattering
Until at least a few peanuts to him, I throw
And if I ignore his now daily demand for snacks
He races from window to window, with his taps
He seems to delight in antagonizing all of our pets
And he makes it extremely difficult for them to nap
He also now even likes to follow me up my old ladder
As I do various maintenance projects around our house
So I keep a supply of peanuts in my pocket, at all times
I think he’s been learning from our tomato loving mouse
And we have a new game here at Thornwood Manor
Every afternoon, our dogs and cats race to the windows
And I always know who has now discovered Little Blackie
He gets a few peanuts, and they get cat treats and Milkbones
They say that you can’t teach an old dog or an old man new tricks;
But Little Blackie’s changed all that – this little critter is pretty slick.
©2008, Mr. Ed
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CarolHawks
Be always sasfe,
Karen
Great poem, Ed!!!
Sandie Angel :o)
Love,
Tiger :Lily
Newfie Hugs, Rose
I see you are spoiling him
with your pocked peanuts
By me there's a friend who loves fishing
We keep small Gator in our ponds and lakes
sort of a conversation navalty, so every time he caugh a fish
He fed it to this cute 3 foot gator, he did that several times
when he caught a nice size fish and decided to keep it
the cute little gator chased up a hill, forcing my friend to drop the fish in defeat....m y friend went home hungry......LOL
Peace be with you
William
Great story/poem. It's amazing how quickly animals adapt to our presence if they are treated humanely. I've seen black squirrels at a rest stop in Indiana. Here in Virginia we have mostly gray squirrels and a few fox squirrels, larger with black and red fur. We had even bigger fox squirrels in MS when I was growing up. They were redder than those in Virginia. As a kid I raised a set of three gray squirrels and later a set of three fox squirrels. Later, after I was a grown man I raised a gray squirrel. All these were tiny babies when I got them and had to be fed milk with a medicine dropper. They all made great pets while they were with me and all eventually rejoined their wild contemporaries.
I now have to battle the gray squirrels at the bird feeders. I wouldn't mind them eating sunflower seeds. I just don't want them to devour the feeder, which seems to be their first instinct. They have to eat what the birds drop to the ground.
Best regards,
Leland
Your poetic talent knows no limits . . . great write!!
Best regards,
Lance
fee
(((HUGS))) and much love, your friend in Tx., Karen Lynn. :D
Only squirrels I've seen have been brown, red, or grey! :D
s more entertaining and heartwarming than taking a holiday somewhere else, and the money is better spend. There is a grey one on my birdfeeder every morn, and if I talk to him nose to nose about five inches away, he just looks at me, picks up another seed in his little hands, as to say there is nothing wrong here, I am eating like the birdies would, I like to be up high, I guess I have to build another birdfeeder to feed them also. Have fun Ed, this a great story, especially about the others learning to take advantage of the situation for treats etc. Blessings! Jasmin Horst
Georg
Heard some 'tapping' like noises myself last night. Thought it was rain on the kitchen windows - muted the TV, went to look outside - not rain - listened intently - traced the noise to the corner - was just GUS - obviously chowing down on some peanuts and cookies.
TV back on, and finished my movie - with a few SNACKS, of course.
Tom.
You should see the big ole smile on my face - what a charming, delightful picture and write! Have never seen a black squirrel. He's beautiful! Next time you see him, throw him a peanut for me. :) Well done!
(((HUGS))) and love, Karla.