Flying Squirrel

Okay, technically, Flying Chipmunk, but still a squirrel.  Hubs gave me a wonderful gift today when he took Jax out with him for several hours of errands, which gave me uninterrupted time in the hide.  Bliss!  And definitely good for my mental health.  Only problem was that there were hardly any birds coming around.  It didn't take me long, though, to spot chipmunks...everywhere.

Chipmunks do a form of hibernation in the winter where they seal themselves in their burrows which they've provisioned with lots of food.  Their metabolism slows down and they eat less, but it's not a true hibernation.  And about this time of year, they all leave their burrows in search of love.  Okay, maybe not love, but definitely some action.  This little guy ran across the entire snow covered lower end of our yard towards the woods where lady chippies were reported to be receiving gentleman callers.  In fact, I watched one such lady entertain several callers within the space of about 30 minutes.  Each time the male would go into the burrow, stay up to 5 minutes and they zoom out; she would then sit at the edge of the burrow and fix her hair and makeup to be ready for the next caller.

Our house sits on the high part of our property and we have a giant underground hose thingie that takes water from the house gutters down to the edge of the woods.  Over the years, it has become a chipmunk underground superhighway.  It allows them to travel from the woods to our garden completely underground and safe from predators.  Today, to my total amazement, I watched three chipmunks pop out of the tunnel in rapid succession, each darting off towards the front of the house where I suspect another lady chippie was entertaining callers.  

This photo - taken from quite a distance and heavily cropped.  Not the sharpest, but definitely my favorite of the day since you can actually see the chippie's shadow underneath.  And it gives you a sense of the speed, too.

Jax is currently napping.  No doubt planning his next move in the Great Bed Wars.  We did some training for sit, down and stay after lunch, using boiled chicken as the lure.  He is doing really well with all three commands (at least here in the house) although he refuses to "down" on the hardwood or ceramic tiles - only an a rug or carpet.  

Shortly after we finished the training, I headed up to my office with Jax at my heels.  Charlie was just getting up from a nap and apparently woke up cranky because he purposefully chased Jax all the way down the stairs - Jax was moving at warp speed with his tail tucked as far between his legs as it would go.  Imagine having to tell the cat not to chase the dog...

I am thinking dark with nuts today, although the final decision hasn't been made.  

Thanks for your kind words yesterday.  I've dealt with depression for many years but it still isn't any easier when I hit a rough patch.  

xo
Debbi