Scaredy Bear & Chipmunk's Tale

My goodness, it's been 4 days since my last post (I feel like I should be in a confessional...) :-) How time flies when you're having a garage sale! Speaking of which, bright and early (7:45) Friday morning my first customer pulled up the driveway. Mind you, the sale was to start at 9 ... but what the heck, I was ready.  At 8:19AM, three people were here, when little bear came looking for a snack.... (only the first 13 seconds is worth viewing ~ I MUST find a program in which to edit these clips!!)

I decided to try a new location for the trail cam, which captured 67 images on Saturday ... mostly cars coming and going!!   I need to trim a bit more tall weeds and move the camera a bit to the left.  Overnight last night, the camera caught several deer (or the same ones, a few times) eating corn at the rock.  It's amazing, with all that grain, that they also saw fit to eat my Rose of Sharon, Asiatic Lilies and start on the Tiger Lilies over the past two nights.  Stinkers..... I have now shredded Irish Spring and sprinkled it among the flowers including the daylilies that are just starting to bud.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed...

Anyway, it's Sunday morning, and I am blessed by the presence of a young bear.  I can tell you, I still have difficulty judging their age and size, although I think this is a yearling.  He has some brown under-fur or so it seems, and much more brown going up his nose to the copper "eyebrows".  I say "he", because as I was clicking away, I think I caught sight of his tassel but it was not a shot that I captured.  What a cute little guy, and as always, I feel badly that I can't go remove those nasty ticks from him.  But he's happily eating some sunflower seeds, and oblivious to the fact that he is sharing the Diner with a tiny breakfast companion...

I watched them for a while peacefully co-existing without either one seemingly caring about the other.


A short while later, and from a different vantage point, little bear actually SAW the chipmunk come scampering out of the woods and ya know what he did??? Yep, ran right up the tree! That big ferocious bear, was afraid of the oncoming chipmunk!

But that's not even the end of the story, noooo...... the bear ran off into the woods and the chipmunk disappeared back into the thicket, so I left my post at the window for another cuppa joe... only to see movement from the thicket and out rushes my mighty hunter Shadow, with a critter hanging from his mouth and two crows chasing him up the driveway. Dilemma: grab the camera, or save a critter???  I opted to fly in the face of the fur trapping law, and save whatever Shadow had found, so I was at my post at the doggie door when he came pushing through, chipmunk flailing.  I grabbed Shadow, and gently held the chippy's tail (so when Shadow dropped him, he could not run into the house ... saving myself from THAT grief again!). I thumped Shadow on the head and pushed open the door with my head (yep, picture it, I'm on all fours on the floor with a squirming cat holding an even more squirming chipmunk, and trying to hold the door open with my head...). Shadow lets go, the chippy runs out the door, Shadow breaks free and runs after the Chippy.

Who said an old broad's reflexes were slow???? I grabbed that cat's tail lickity split and kept him from taking off after that dear little chipmunk.  So, another rodent life saved, although Shadow had the same instinct and speed as I....

Betcha he'd love the little lizards in Florida... wish chipmunk tails re-grew :-(

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 "My Creator, Let me live today with an open heart. Let me realize to be vulnerable is a strength, not a weakness. Let me realize the power of an open heart. Let me be available to truth. If I get into trouble, let me hear the whisper of your guidance. Let me make heart decisions and let my head catch up to that decision." Audrey Shenandoah, ONONDAGA

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