Demon squirrels

Looks like the mothballs and mulch didn't work...the squirrels got to my crocus bulbs. In theory, they left the daffodils alone since squirrels aren't supposed to like eating daffodils. I hope this theory's right, or that little plot of ground is going to look awfully empty come spring.

I've always had a love-hate thing going with squirrels. They're darned cute but sometimes they drive me around the bend. In my Animal Behaviour class at the University of Toronto, I did a study on their eating habits, foolishly taking a bag of peanuts and a notebook into Queen's Park in Toronto. Note: a bag of peanuts. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?



No one had told me about the squirrels in Queen's Park. Back in my day, the Queen's Park Squirrels were drooling, voracious creatures the size of cats, likely to chew your head off if you weren't paying proper attention. Ok, so maybe this is a SLIGHT exaggeration. The part about the size, that is.

To make a long story short, I ended up fleeing Queen's Park with a squirrel steadily clambering its way up my leg with the determination of a psychotic mountain climber bent on making the summit before the big storm hits; thankfully I smartened up and flung the peanuts behind me as a distraction while I made my escape. Some of my friends from university still mock me about this traumatic experience, the unfeeling cads.

While living in our condo, squirrels were a non-issue. But now we're back in the same territory, pretty much face-to-face every day. I've already ticked off some of the local squirrels, I'm sure, when I bought my Squirrelbuster feeder. None have yet figured out how to get to the seeds; instead they each periodically make their pilgrimages halfway up the tree trunk where they cling for several long minutes staring balefully at the Squirrelbuster, their tails twitching in fury, while I cruelly guffaw from behind the window.

So THAT's how I know that the crocus bulb vandalism was an act of revenge!

Speaking of Evil Squirrels, I never did post the wonderful Eichhörnchen that Christine ("Nella Darren", whose Demons CD was recently released) drew for Urban Tapestry after Filkcontinental. The word means "squirrel" in German, though Christine initially tried convincing us it was a swear word. :-D Anyway, here's her drawing:



As for my poor, desecrated crocus bulbs: you just wait until NEXT year, you demon vermin!

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