Making a comeback?

  Sometimes things get a tad confusing around here.  Ms. Ez loves to chase the squirrels out of the bird feeders and will occasionally come close to catching one of the varmints.  I am sure if that ever does happen, she will be at a loss of what to do with her prize.  The long legs of the dog do a good job of outrunning the squirrels if she ever gets them in an open area.  Their only hope for escape lies in the nearness of a tree or in the confusion that they can stir up by clustering together in groups.  Ms. Ez has a terrible time deciding which squirrel to chase if there are three or more running in all different directions.  This confusion can make for an amusing sight.  The big, ole dog lumbering around after small, agile squirrels is like a scene out of a comedy.

  Ms. Ez's main nemesis of late is a rather peculiar looking squirrel. Although it is much larger, the body of the critter looks like any other gray squirrel. Its tail and belly are a reddish which is something that differs it from the gray squirrels.  I had made the comment that the squirrel looked different and then realized that it was, indeed, different. This was not a gray squirrel at all.  I am thinking this was a fox squirrel! After making that realization, I started watching the squirrel a bit closer. Aha!  So there were two of the critters!  Obviously, a pair of these squirrels have decided that the Bayou is a grand place to settle down and raise a family!  This makes me happy!  I still have not gotten a close enough view of the pair to make a positive identification but hopefully that will come soon.

  If these are indeed fox squirrels and they do decide to stay on the Bayou, I will put out extra food for them.  Back in the day when I was young, Pop used to talk about seeing the fox squirrels occasionally but it has been years since any have been around here.  Maybe this is a start of a new population or maybe this is just a gray squirrel with a reddish tint.   Either way,  I will be able to watch them often and Ms. Ez can have fun chasing them!