Early this morning while I was outside painting the new screen doors, I heard a familiar sort of "cackle". Ahh, yes, Friend Hawk was visiting. It stands to reason that the hawk would be nearby because I had filled the squirrel...uh..bird feeders yesterday and a good dozen or so squirrels were munching the sunflower seeds. Occasionally, a bird would get a chance to grab a morsel but, more oft than not, the squirrels would chase the birds. A few birds had gotten smart and were searching the ground under the feeders for errant seeds from the squirrels' foraging. (Squirrels are not the neatest diners.) One smart bird was the Red-bellied Woodpecker. The bird would hunt for a seed on the ground then poke it in a hole in the post to crack it.
Not only was the bird smart for finding food in this way, it was far wiser in another way. As I heard the hawk cry, I turned to check the feeders. I really did not want to have set the doves up for an easy massacre even though I love the little Cooper's Hawk. Let that hawk catch a squirrel! We have far too many of those rascally rodents.
Nope, there was nary a bird in the feeder nor on the ground. Even the squirrels had scampered to safety. The only bird near the feeders was that woodpecker and it was playing it safe. The hawk was on the south side of the feeders in an oak tree. The woodpecker was on the north side of the post and was being as still and quiet as a church mouse. I watched as the bird hunkered down close to the feeder's post. Hmm? I eased my way down the board path toward the feeder. This movement made the hawk a bit skittish and it flew back toward the canebrake. The woodpecker, however, was not moving a muscle! It was scared stiff...or just being overly cautious. If the technique worked against a hawk, perhaps it would work against this intruder (me), as well!
I decided to let the woodpecker be and headed back to my painting. After a bit, there was a bit of a skirmish in the feeders as the squirrels had returned and the woodpecker tried to chase them! Smart bird.
I have the fattest squirrels here on the Bayou! Of course, some of these "fat" squirrels may be in the "family way" as it is about that time of year. Other than that, the only contributing factor I can see is that I feed the birds. Feeding the birds is fine and dandy but those rascally squirrels raid the feeders. They chase the birds from the feeders then gorge themselves on the sunflower seeds. This, too, is fine and dandy as I really do not mind feeding the squirrels. They are cute, furry and downright fun to watch. The only problem I can foresee is that by getting fat, the squirrels are also getting lazy and lazy critters run into trouble at times.
Early this morning, the first hike of the day was in a dense fog. This is our usual "winter weather"..fog, humid and hot. That fog, however, makes for interesting hikes as it shrouds things from view and the dampness muffles the footsteps. Critters have just the same problem as I do. They cannot hear nor see a predator until sometimes it is too late. A hawk, owl, fox or bobcat can have breakfast with ease on such mornings. The fat, lazy squirrels are easy targets for all of the predators that roam the hillside in search of food. This morning, I walked right up on the squirrels feasting in the bird feeders. When they finally did decide to scamper, it was more of a leisurely stroll than a hasty retreat. Then, one particularly fat squirrel decided to stop and rest just a few feet above my head on a small twig. This choice of perching spots made it an easy target for a marauding hawk or owl.
Thankfully, the squirrel was safe this morning as no predators (other than me and, obviously, I mean them no harm) were out and about in the mistiness. Perhaps I should stop stocking the feeders but, then, there is not a lot out there for the critters to eat this time of year. Most of the squirrels have already gone through their stockpiles of stored goodies and the migrating birds need a bit of sustenance before they start their journeys. Those fat and lazy critters need to keep a wary eye!
