The Waiting Game..

Ms. Ezzy loves to chase squirrels.  She will sit for hours just waiting for a squirrel to attempt a birdfeeder raid.  Then she races lickety-split out the gate and down the hill.  The squirrel always makes it to the safety of a tree but not without Ez being right on its tail. This game goes on for the entire day until I call her in for the night.

Today, Ms. Ez treed two squirrels in the same hickory tree. This was good news for her!  There are two trees in the yard that do not give the squirrels access to an easy escape.  These trees are far from any other trees.  This hickory tree is one of those two!  To leave the tree, the squirrels are required to come back down the trunk and race across the yard.  She has learned that if she waits long enough, the game will continue as the squirrels will eventually try to escape the tree.   The old Bayou Dog will sit for hours just listening.  She can hear the scritching of the squirrels' claws on the bark of the tree as they move.  If the noise gets close..she gets excited.  Once she realizes the squirrels are near, she bounds around and around the tree trying to get at them!  The wily squirrels dart back up the tree to wait for her to be distracted.  The two squirrels that were treed today were in for a long wait.  Ms. Ez sat and sat. She even sat through a rain shower!  The dog was determined that the squirrels would not leave that tree!

I do believe that this is a game not only fun for Ms. Ez but also for the squirrels.  It seems that they love to torment the dog and in turn be chased by her.  It is all about who has more patience.  Obviously, Ms. Ez won the round today.  No, she did not catch the squirrels in the hickory tree but she out-waited them.  Darkness fell before she gave up the game.  Tonight, there are two squirrels that did not make it back to their cozy nests before bedtime!