Squirrel v. Crocus


Squirrel v Crocus
Originally uploaded
by Points North.

Every year, after a long winter, I look out my back window and am surprised by a shot of yellow. The happy crocuses sometimes grace the same place, and sometimes the squirrels have moved them to unexpected places. But every spring the squirrels give me one day to fill my soul with the flowers' beauty, then overnight, gone.

At first, I thought it was the cats that roam our neighbourhood, who like to nibble and roll and finally flatten my flowers as they comfortably settle down, paws curled under their chests. But no. One day I saw a squirrel pluck a flower and, while holding the stem, chow down on the perfumy part. He ate so fast, he'd plucked them all before I could open the door and shoo him away. The cheek!

This year, I caught them before they could really get going. Grey squirrels, black squirrels all vied for a tasty treat of yellow. This black one succeeded. He razored the plant clean, right after I took my last photo and had put the camera away. What the heck, I thought, might as well grab the camera again and catch him in the act, instead of futilely trying to save the flowers. After all, the squirrels had allowed me a whole 7 days of viewing!


Comments

Bill said…
Try mixing a few hot peppers in a half liter of water and spraying the crocus plants. The only other way to spray with diluted Fox urine (not my idea of a pleasant thing to do)
Thanks! I'll have to remember that for next year...but maybe not the fox urine...it does sound unpleasant! I've tried cayenne pepper, and my neighbour too, but it didn't work.