Christmas colors in the garden
Lots of Christmasy reds and greens in the yard this week, like the new growth on the mutabilis rose. I have crazy rose bushes. The colder it gets, the more new growth they put out.
The leaves of this Texas red oak in the backyard are turning redder by the day.
A few days ago, I spied this ginormous squirrel, scurrying up the red oak's trunk. Seriously, he was as big as a small cat.
He saw me and stopped long enough to pose for the camera. There's a Perky Pet Squirrel-Be-Gone feeder in this tree. It works pretty well, but it doesn't stop the squirrels from trying. I've read stories of squirrels breaking the springs or chewing through the plastic parts of this feeder to get at the seeds. So far, so good with this one. The acorns make my garden's squirrels less desperate, it seems.
Some birds would rather feed off the ground than from a feeder, like this cardinal. I've thought about getting a platform feeder, but the squirrels would clean it out before the cardinals had a chance.
This cardinal, and his mate, are frequent visitors to my garden. He's a bit older than the youngster in the photo above. He likes to perch on the hammock cover.
This is another frequent visitor to my garden -- an exceedingly well-fed black and white cat. She likes to dig in the flower beds, as do the squirrels. The squirrels leave pecans and acorns in the holes they dig. The cat leaves other things in the holes she digs. Boo! Hiss! When all the birds disappear, I know kitty is near.
Squirrel doesn't like kitty. He scolds her from his safe perch in the treetops...
...until kitty slinks off.
For Christmas, Santa brought me four large stackable storage bins and a four-level shelving unit for the garden shed! Santa even put together the shelving unit, and helped me clean and organize the shed, too! Hope you all had as Merry a Christmas as we did.
The leaves of this Texas red oak in the backyard are turning redder by the day.
A few days ago, I spied this ginormous squirrel, scurrying up the red oak's trunk. Seriously, he was as big as a small cat.
He saw me and stopped long enough to pose for the camera. There's a Perky Pet Squirrel-Be-Gone feeder in this tree. It works pretty well, but it doesn't stop the squirrels from trying. I've read stories of squirrels breaking the springs or chewing through the plastic parts of this feeder to get at the seeds. So far, so good with this one. The acorns make my garden's squirrels less desperate, it seems.
Some birds would rather feed off the ground than from a feeder, like this cardinal. I've thought about getting a platform feeder, but the squirrels would clean it out before the cardinals had a chance.
This cardinal, and his mate, are frequent visitors to my garden. He's a bit older than the youngster in the photo above. He likes to perch on the hammock cover.
This is another frequent visitor to my garden -- an exceedingly well-fed black and white cat. She likes to dig in the flower beds, as do the squirrels. The squirrels leave pecans and acorns in the holes they dig. The cat leaves other things in the holes she digs. Boo! Hiss! When all the birds disappear, I know kitty is near.
Squirrel doesn't like kitty. He scolds her from his safe perch in the treetops...
...until kitty slinks off.
For Christmas, Santa brought me four large stackable storage bins and a four-level shelving unit for the garden shed! Santa even put together the shelving unit, and helped me clean and organize the shed, too! Hope you all had as Merry a Christmas as we did.
Those pesky Squirrels! I've had 3 who frequent my garden for the last 6 months. But I found the cure, or rather my wife did. We got a Westie, and now those furry rodent's don't dare come down the trees.
ReplyDeleteI watched a show on the Travel Channel about some South Pacific natives visiting various places in the US. When they got to New York City they saw some squirrels in Central Park and exclaimed "Look New York City rats!"
ReplyDeleteHi Caroline.
ReplyDeleteThat does look like one huge squirrel! Is it me or are there less of them this year? That first picture of the Cardinal in full prime is great! It is like he knew that his picture was being taken.
ESP.