Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Mr. Squirrel Fooled Me Again


Many bird-watchers bribe squirrels with corn.
Squirrels find a way into the birdseed, treating their bribes as a side dish.


I was congratulating myself yesterday for feeding small birds with an inexpensive feeder - no perch. The seed supply was getting lower, and I saw no opportunity for any creature except a small bird to feed there.

This morning Mr. Squirrel disabused me of that fantasy. He stood on his hind legs and reached into the small aperture where the seed came out. He scooped the seed directly into his mouth.

He was so intent that he did not see me for a long time. Suddenly he jumped up onto the top of the feeder and looked at me, his tail twitching. Seeing no signs of a threat, he went back to his SRO (standing room only) feeding routine.

In the backyard, another squirrel was feeding from the corn feeder.

As piggish as the squirrels might seem, they do not haunt the feeders. I put an upturned bucket near the lower bedroom window and filled the section with seed, finishing the mixed seed bag. Another squirrel worked over that pile this morning, but he left and cardinals began enjoying the rest. They were also at the main sunflower feeder.

Reward - as I came back from the kitchen with a fresh cup of coffee for Mrs. Ichabod, a blue jay appeared at the inexpensive bird squirrel feeder. I thought they moved South for the winter, but they have moved in for the food.

Blue jays are so good at burying acorns that they are given credit for maintaining oak forests. If I were managing things, I would have given that chore exclusively to the squirrels, just to keep them busy doing something useful. Every role in Creation seems to have multiple redundancies built into the picture.

We have plenty of oak trees in this area, so squirrels and blue jays are happy and well fed.

I decided to buy a huge bird house, 25 feet tall, upright, and have it dug into the ornery soil of the ravine. The word for shovel in Bella Vista is pickax. I ordered one with multiple holes and plenty of food mounted on its outside. The estimate was several thousand dollars, not including labor. Then I thought, "Wait, I already have a dead tree standing up in the ravine. It has holes in it and doubtless many insect larvae stuck in the bark."

Just kidding. Why buy a bird-house like that when God has already planned for them, far better than I could?

Blue jays nested outside our bedroom window in 2010, raising their brood.
LI wondered about a baby bird waving its wings and thinking, "What are these? Maybe I can fly?"
Do evolutionists ever consider the software involved in baby bird flight?
 


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bored has left a new comment on your post "Mr. Squirrel Fooled Me Again":

When I saw this picture I immediately thought of the WELS churches who survive on grants.

"PLEASE GIVE US MORE MONEY!!! WE NEED A ROLL-DOWN PROJECTOR SCREEN! AND NEW AMPS FOR OUR BAND!"

But that disrespects the Blue jays.

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GJ - Blue jay nestlings grow up and fly away on their own, but you are certainly right about the image.