Monday, February 3, 2014

What the heck?

I was making breakfast and happened to glance out the window above the sink.  One of the backyard squirrels appeared to be making himself at home on the patio bench.  I couldn't figure out what he was up to as, at first, he appeared to be burrowing under one of the pillows there.  My initial guess was that he was checking out the pots of blueberries behind the bench to see if anything was ready to eat yet.  As I knew there wasn't anything but a few flowers on the blueberry bushes, I wasn't particularly concerned, but I grabbed my camera and began taking shots through the window.

He moved to the back of the bench, still looking relatively innocent.




Then this started.










Maybe he had some mysterious beef with the pillow - or maybe he was looking for suitable nesting material for his den.  In any case, his behavior clearly indicated frustration with the fabric.  Advertised as weather resistant, apparently it's also squirrel resistant.  As soon as I touched the handle on the back door, he high-tailed it (literally).  Examination of the cushion showed that he did manage to leave a small hole in the cloth.




And to think I'd felt a little bad for not being more kind about my backyard neighbors in my recent post about National Squirrel Appreciation Day!  Maybe someone told him that and the pillow was retaliation...

At least Mother Nature finally cut us some slack - we got some rain last night.  It wasn't much but it was measurable.  The news media reported 0.14 inches (3.6 mm) of rain for Los Angeles.  My rain meter showed a little more.

My rainmeter showed close to 3/8ths of an inch (9.5 mm) of rain


The skies are mainly blue now but the air feels fresh and clean (and our air quality has been horrible for the last 2 months).  The clouds are moving out again but there's another 20% chance of rain toward the end of the week!  The rain hasn't made a dent in our drought conditions but it's a start.



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20 comments:

  1. Mark and GazFebruary 3, 2014 at 10:52 AM

    Yay for rain in your area! Hope you guys get more of it soon, not too much but enough to thoroughly drench the plants and top up the reservoir!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kris PetersonFebruary 5, 2014 at 5:55 PM

      Unfortunately, some of those reservoirs are sitting at 1/3rd their "normal" levels so it's probably going to take a few years and the kindness of Mother Nature before we'll be in good shape.

      Delete
  2. outlawgardenerFebruary 3, 2014 at 11:16 AM

    Hope you get more rain but happy you got enough to clean up the air a bit! As for that cute rodent ... Off with his head!

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  3. ericnpFebruary 3, 2014 at 12:33 PM

    Wow! Your windows are really clean!

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    Replies
    1. Kris PetersonFebruary 5, 2014 at 5:57 PM

      With no rain, the windows stay pretty clean. I tackled the back windows just before Christmas.

      Delete
  4. ShirleyFebruary 3, 2014 at 1:57 PM

    That's not cute at all!

    At least you got some rain and a bit of clearer air.

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    Replies
    1. Kris PetersonFebruary 5, 2014 at 5:58 PM

      Yes, we're thankful for that and have our fingers crossed for more on Thursday.

      Delete
  5. AlisonFebruary 3, 2014 at 3:43 PM

    I heard about the rain, hooray for that! How very strange to look out the window and see the squirrel torturing your cushions.

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    Replies
    1. Kris PetersonFebruary 5, 2014 at 5:59 PM

      Despite all the shenanigans I've seen from them, this was new!

      Delete
  6. chlorisFebruary 4, 2014 at 2:47 AM

    I thought at first perhaps he thought that your cushion was a lady squirrel. And then he started biting it, goodness knows what that was about. Sheer bad temper probably.
    Ironic that you need rain and we feel that it will never stop and we will all have to start building arks.

    ReplyDelete
  7. SueFebruary 4, 2014 at 8:19 AM

    Tree rats! Despite their numbers, fortunately they don't do much damage in my garden. Yay for the rain! Kathy (Gardenbook) got some too. Last week I saw a segment on CA drought conditions on the evening news. Scary stuff.

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    Replies
    1. Kris PetersonFebruary 5, 2014 at 6:05 PM

      It is scary, Sue. I'm concerned that we may end up with some form of mandatory restrictions, although it's hard to see how that would work. We already have a tiered rate structure based on usage volume.

      Delete
  8. danger gardenFebruary 4, 2014 at 9:16 AM

    Beautiful sky and I could almost smell the fresher air! Bad squirrel....

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  9. Pam/DiggingFebruary 4, 2014 at 9:50 PM

    After the first shot of that squirrel gnawing on the cushions, I'd have dropped the camera and run after it with a broom. You showed remarkable restraint, Kris -- or else a journalist's keen instinct to capture the story.

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    Replies
    1. Kris PetersonFebruary 5, 2014 at 6:08 PM

      I admit that I was very curious about why he was doing what he was doing. Interestingly, he hasn't gone back to it.

      Delete
  10. AngieFebruary 5, 2014 at 10:42 AM

    Glad to read you got some rain Kris, albeit not much. I'll be the garden really appreciated it. In the first few shots, I wasn't entirely convinced just what the squirrel was up too - I had thought maybe he had found himself a new mate ;)

    ReplyDelete

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