Sassy (and Slightly Sticky ) Squirrel

In case you may be wondering, Sassy (formerly known as Sneaky) is back to his old tricks.

And, let's face it, it didn't take him long to make a return.

And, to make matters worse, it appears that Sassy doesn't seem to find candy canes to be a threat.

Obviously, he had no issues munching just inches away from this remaining candy cane.  (The other one had dropped into the snow when Sassy jumped on the feeder.)

Once again, my pounding on the window did not work as a deterrent,

but opening the window did result in a quick scurry along the deck rail. 

I thought, perhaps, Sassy was heading over to the  squirrel food that I had bought special, just for him, which is mounted on the corner of the deck.  

But that was just a clever ploy on his part, as he stopped to pick up some seeds that had fallen onto the railing, before making an about-turn when he thought I wasn't looking. 

And, since I had chosen to stay inside this time,  Sassy figured that he'd head right back for the goods.

But, something was different.  Were your eyes sharp enough to pick it up?

Well, by now, you have probably noticed that Sassy suddenly earned the name of Sticky.  And, to be quite frank, he didn't seem to mind.

But he finally realized the gig was up, and when he jumped onto the deck, he looked a little disheartened.

And, I'll be honest, I felt bad for Sticky.  I even found myself saying "Poor thing".  And when he jumped off of the railing, with that candy cane still stuck to his tail, 

I felt even worse. 

I watched him bounce over to the Magnolia tree, where he ran up and down, and back across the yard, with a red and white striped extension to his tail.

Yep....that candy cane was not breaking loose!

Then, suddenly, he scurried towards the deck, ducking under, and before I could attempt to figure out just what he could possibly be doing, he emerged, as you can see, candy cane free.

Sticky had become Slick.  Just how did he do that?  Could this be the answer to the missing candy canes?  Was there an accomplice somewhere nearby? 

I was tempted to take a peek under the deck, but the feeders were nearly empty by this time,

and some of the birds were turning upside down from hunger.

and the crowds were making a racket.

So, I set about filling the feeders, trying to ignore the heckling from the sidelines.

And, just as I was about to rehang the feeders, I found myself stopping, and asking myself: 

What would Slick, (or should I say Sassy?) , (or would that be Sneaky?)  do? 

One thing was for sure, despite the candy cane debacle, I had failed to find Slick playing with the slinkys,  and that hint certainly had proven to be effective at keeping him from climbing up the poles.

So, I decided that rearranging the feeders was in order.  

I shortened the rope on the house feeder, hanging it in a higher spot.

Then, I ran a new wire through the squirrel proof feeder to shorten it as well.  

Yes, you read that correctly.  We have a squirrel proof feeder.  The weight of the squirrel triggers a mechanism which thereby blocks the seed windows.  But Slick figured out a long time ago, that he could give the feeder a good swat and sunflowers would fall like rain from heaven.

With the new wire loop,  the feeder hangs high enough so that Slick can't just swat it, and I'm hoping the slinky keeps him from climbing up the pole to jump on it as the physics behind the hanging mechanism is compromised by the new wire.  But we'll keep that our secret. 

I didn't spot Slick anymore today, but I did see a pair of mourning doves checking out the new look. 

And they seemed pretty happy with the freshly filled feeders. 

In the meantime, I decided to bake some Salted Caramel Chocolate Cupcakes this evening.

Doesn't that look heavenly?

Well, as I was putting the frosting on those cupcakes, my grandson was calling us on Skype.  My husband showed him my handiwork and asked him whom he thought I might be making those cupcakes for.

Suddenly, I heard two voices over the phone exclaim, "For the SQUIRREL!"

Aren't they funny?

Really.....  how ridiculous of an idea is that?

After all, I haven't read one thing online that says that Salted Caramel Chocolate cupcakes keep squirrels away.  


Do you think that they might be onto something?

Sassy (Forget Sneaky) Squirrel

Everything was going great!  The day after my candy cane experiment, I spotted Sneaky Squirrel happily snacking on some seed that had fallen onto the railing, but he was soon scurrying away and, surprisingly, he didn't bother the feeders.

And you've got to admit.....he certainly is cute. 

We got some snow

but not nearly the pounding that had been predicted.

And it sure is frigid outside, with high's in the low 20's.  So, you know those birdies have to be hungry.

And there was lots of feathered friend activity at the feeders this week, which made me happy.

But being of a suspicious nature, I kept peeking out the window for sights of Sneaky, but he seemed to have disappeared….except for some suspicious hopping tracks on the back deck coming close to the sliding glass door.

One thing I did notice, though, was that the candy canes were all gone.  And, I do mean ALL gone.  No sign of any…... anywhere.  I had even tucked some into the one feeder where the weather and wind would not have been an issue.  Curious…..don't you think?

I can't help but wonder who was feasting on those.

 Could it be possible that Sneaky was having a candy licking party in his nest somewhere?  Perhaps he got all sticky and was now a Sneaky Sticky squirrel!  There wasn't even any sign of him attempting to get some sustenance from the Squirrel post mounted in the corner.

My son was curious as to how I came up with the candy cane idea.
I told him that I had read it on a blog.
It worked for the writer.
It was cheap.
It really couldn't hurt anything.
I could eat the left-over candy canes.

Don't these all seem like logical reasons to give it a try?

He and my grandson came up with the idea that the Squirrel probably wrote the blog.  Great way to get some candy canes and play with a Slinky.

Aren't they funny?

It's been 4 days without a candy cane in sight, and no squirrels to be seen at the feeders.

And then, today, you know it had to happen.

There he was, happily feasting away.

 I pounded on the window.

That scared him……..NOT!

Obviously, the squirrel knew that I was inside and he was outside.

He turned and looked at me, giving me a Sassy look, which I did not waste time photographing.

I popped on my boots, and headed out the back door.

Do you know that I was nearly at the feeder before that squirrel realized that I meant business?  He was munching away, ignoring me, until he looked up and saw my not-so-happy face, and jumped off happily hopping along the snow to the back of the yard.

In the meantime, I've loaded the feeder up with more candy canes.

Will it work?  Well, he never returned today.

Perhaps he's writing his blog on how to sucker humans into handing over free candy canes.

We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

Sneaky Snacky Squirrel

Are you familiar with this game:  Sneaky Snacky Squirrel?

All of my grandchildren really enjoy playing this game.  There's not much strategy involved, and just when you think you're about to win, one spin of the dial, and you find yourself with no acorns, victim of the Sneaky Snacky Squirrel.

Well.....guess what?   We seem to have our own live Sneaky Snacky Squirrel.  

That became all too obvious when I noticed that the feeders were emptying way too fast, and birdseed would be scattered in heaps on the deck railing.

It was quite a mess!  

And, let me just say that the local birds don't eat cheap seed.  At least not in our backyard.

So, in an attempt to save myself from having to refill bird feeders every other day, I decided to look online for some practical advice on how to keep squirrels from the bird feeders.

I realize that this is no easy feat.  This isn't the first run-in I've had with squirrels. Somehow those clever creatures (or should I say sneaky?) managed to win the game.  

I read through the list of suggestions, eliminating one after another, until I came across two interesting possibilities.  Both were inexpensive and would cause no harm to the squirrel or the environment.  

After a quick trip to the store, I set about filling the feeders while attempting to make them squirrel proof.  

Ok...... I never professed to an attractive solution.  That's actually a plastic slinky you see stretched over the pole.  I read that when the squirrel attempts to climb up the pole, the slinky keeps him from making traction. Sounds reasonable, don't you think?

I had hoped to find metal slinkies, but such was not the case.  

If this clever trick works, then I may consider looking a bit harder for metal replacements.  Purely aesthetic. 

The second interesting possibility involved peppermint candy canes.  The site suggested that popping candy canes onto the feeders acted as a repellant for squirrels.  

So, I picked up a package of small candy-canes on the after Christmas sale rack, unwrapped a few, and hung them here and there on the feeders.

And, realizing that squirrels need to eat something, I purchased a special product, that squirrels are supposed to find tasty, and mounted it on the corner of the deck, far from the feeders. 

And then, I waited to see what would happen.

I half expected to look outside and find the squirrel playing with the slinky and licking candy canes.  

When I came home today,  I spotted the grey creature on the railing, looking longingly at the feeders.

He took a quick look at the suet, then ran along the rail to the squirrel food on the corner.

He stopped only briefly to check it out before scurrying down the railing and out of sight.

So, do you suppose the candy canes did the trick?  Only time will tell.  

But, in the meantime, we have a new friend:

Now, that's a welcome sight!

A visit to the Farm Show: Fun or Frustrating?

Marty and I decided that today would be a great day to visit the PA Farm Show.  We've gone in the past and really enjoyed ourselves. Today, however, was definitely a bit crazy.

Let me begin by saying that I had no idea that so many Steelers fans live in the Harrisburg area.  I can't tell you how many Steeler t-shirts, hats and jackets that I spied while maneuvering through the crush of visitors.  I can't help but wonder if they would have been in attendance today if the Steeler's were playing.

But, then again......we wouldn't have been there to know!

The line of cars waiting to enter the nearly full parking lot, should have been a strong indication of the crowds that we would soon find ourselves amongst.  We made our way past the tractors, through the packed food court, along a seemingly endless walkway, in search of the animals.  We passed some cows walking in the opposite direction, which is really kind of funny, because we probably looked like a cattle herd to them!   Come to think of it, one did look at us and let out a LONG MOOOO!

Finally, we were in the North Hall where we found ourselves amongst the bovines.

These two were apparently hot, since there was a fan blowing on them, and they were just loving it!

Through the hall and around the corner we spied these Alpacas.

Aren't they entertaining?

We followed the sign for Sheep and Swine and ended up in an arena brimming with both.

Here are a few photos that I snapped.

A large pink pig enjoying dreamland.

Another pink pig in what appears to be a meditative pose,

And the famous 2014 Grand Champion Hog.

How exciting was that?

And then, there were the sheep, sporting some very fashionable coats.

This was an interesting mix, although I did feel sorry for the shivering, naked sheep against the wall.

Hot pink was certainly bright.

And here you see a bright blue poncho, which made me wonder if he was ready for a trip to Scotland.

And, honestly, I cannot imagine why anyone would think that it would a good idea to dress a sheep in an animal print!  

Moving on...we were able to see the butter sculpture, which is nearly life-size.

That's a LOT of butter!

And, then there were the food categories which included candy

Yummy!

There were gingerbread houses, where I spotted this Log Cabin.

The Baked goods categories included items such as cupcakes, apple pies, and even a category just for Thumbprint cookies!  There were plates of them, each with a different look and filling.

Actually, I wondered how one got on the team for taste testing!  I'd be up for that....wouldn't you?

Oh, and while looking at cookies, I spotted these cute shortbread cookies:  Pink Piggies.

We walked past apples and wine, honey and pretzels, pickles and chips, just to mention a few.

My one goal of today's visit was to finally get the opportunity to try one of the famous Farm Show milkshakes which are reputed to be awesome. 

 I was up for the challenge.  

Until we walked back through the food court and saw that the lines for the shakes were so long that we would obviously be standing for quite awhile just for the opportunity to order one. 

We opted to nix the idea and head out to the car, although I will admit that I did experience some milkshake envy as I passed person after person sipping shakes through a draw and obviously relishing the experience. 

Oh well...maybe next year?   Although I must admit that if I ever go again, I'd probably pick a different day of the week.

In the meantime, we were lucky to get to the show, as snow and ice are predicted for tomorrow.

Can't say that too many people will be smiling at that forecast!

  But the farm show and snow have always seemed to go hand in hand.

And, apparently, this year is no different!

If you make it to the show this year, I hope that you get to enjoy a milkshake.  But please don't tell me how awesome it was.....OK?