Thursday, July 15, 2010

Clean Up Your Mess

Morgan is our official squirrel watcher. She spends hours on the window seat looking for any sign of the little pests. When she sees one, she alerts the others with an excited bark, then everyone runs barking to the window to see for themselves.

Just say the word squirrel and Morgan races to the window, followed by Samba and Noah. Rob and I have started calling them 'sq' so that she won't notice and start barking, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time till she figures out what we're talking about.

We have this fairly large plum tree in our front yard. For the last couple years it's had a handful of tiny plums that didn't amount to much.

This year it's loaded. We had a nice, rainy summer last year and a mild winter, so the tree is producing a record crop of plums.

The plums are falling off the tree and the whole yard smells sweet from them. The squirrels are climbing the tree and tasting the plums. Many of them have a bite taken .

One squirrel has been bringing his lunch of plums onto the deck to enjoy them in comfort. The trouble is, he leaves a mess behind.

He's leaving pieces of plum and seeds all along the deck rail and on my bench on the porch.


Here he is, full of plums, taking a nap on the deck rail only a couple feet from the window where Morgan is watching. He's free to eat as many plums as he can hold, but don't leave your mess for me to clean up.

24 comments:

gMarie said...

What a great photo of him flat out and full! Yea - I hate cleaning up other people's messes!! g

booahboo said...

That sure is one stuffed squirrel :D
Morgan will probably figure out sq soon enough. Lovely tree by the way... i have never seen a plum tree before.. and in all full plum glory too! thanks for sharing the picture Sue.

Heather and Kelly said...

Our squirrels are so shy where we live! Very occasionally they will come on our porch if we put seeds out, but they're really timid.

Love the pic of the sleepy squirrel! Too cute.

Marjie said...

Glad Morgan is on the job, keeping those squirrels at bay! I guess they decided to come back for the plums, despite their run-in with the pack in the spring? Your plum tree is just beautiful. We just got a handful of tiny ones from ours this year.

the teacher's pets said...

My goodness, Mr. Squirrel needs to go on a diet after stuffing himself with plums! You would think he'd have the decency to clean up after himself especially since you supplied his breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Where are his manners, anyway?
Loved your post! Very, very cute!

Stella said...

You and the Mr. aren't going to let those plums go to waste, are you? I mean plum wine, of course.

http://www.grapestomper.com/recplum.html

or http://www.cellarmastersla.org/plumwine.htm

That tree could keep you warm inside all winter long!

Cheers and hugs,

Jo and Stella

Two French Bulldogs said...

Good job Morgan. We made need you over here. Have fun and keep an eye on that tree rat
Benny & Lily

Lola and also Franklin, too said...

Do you think that putting up "No Littering" signs would help? Probably not, I suppose. It must be awfully nice to have a plum tree, though.

wags, Lola

LizzieJane said...

Those pesky squirrels! At our last house we were overrun with them. having a lot of oak trees on our property was I am sure why. They used to drive our kitty crazy. They would come right up to the sliding glass door stand up and lean their paws against it looking for her. It sure kept her entertained though.
x

Bella Roxy & Macdui said...

Maybe you should let Morgan out so that Squirrel can run off a few of those plums! Love the flat squirrel picture.

XXXOOO Daisy, Kendra & Bella

Lola and also Franklin, too said...

That squirrel has a lot of nerve. Gotta give him that. Maybe a No Littering sign would help, but I doubt it. Squirrels are just terrible about picking up after themselves.

wags, Lola

silfert said...

Mmm, sun-warmed plums... That "sq" picture is hilarious!

Duke said...

What? You mean the squirrels are allowed to have all the plums they want and not you guys? Where is the fairness here?!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Rufus and Indie said...

The last pic is the best! So funny!
The squirrel looks exhausted!

George The Lad said...

I bet the pips are not the only mess there leaving!
See Yea George xxx

♥I am Holly♥ said...

That picture is great!!! We bet he can't walk from eating so much!! Lots of love, Debbie and Holly

Maggie Mae and Max said...

There is nothing worse than a happy tree rat and that one looks very happy snoozin' on your deck after eating all those plums. :)

Woofs and Licks,
Maggie Mae

Scrabblequeen said...

Lucky you and lucky squirrels! Due to this winter/spring's storms we had hardly any plums on our usually over-loaded tree. We don't have any squirrly pests for the dogs to chase off, but the birds sure get their share of the plums each year.

Anonymous said...

The picture of the squirrel is so funny! They are pesky aren't they? Charli barks at everything. On some days it just drives us crazy. If I say quiet she trys so hard not to bark but she belts out these growls as if to say I'm trying. I really am. The plum tree is really very pretty though.

Nicki said...

man, he looks wasted!

♥ Sallie said...

Those messy squirrels. You tell 'em! :)

♥♥ The OP Pack ♥♥ said...

How rude of those pesky critters to ruin those yummy looking plums!!! And then to have the nerve to leave a mess too - we just have to do something about them.

Woos - Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

SissySees said...

What a cute post! I love the photo of him resting. My girls are both big squirrel watchers!

Janet said...

That's a beautiful plum tree. Each time Sydney goes out on the deck, she scans the yard for squirrels. I can't imagine how she'd act if one actually napped where she could see it. Love that last picture!