Nature Life, Right in my Backyard....

A couple days ago I talked about potting up canna seed, hoping to make a little extra money. I covered the pots with saran wrap, to keep the seeds humid and warm. I don't know if anything's growing yet, but there must be some chemical reaction happening inside, as this is what I found when I walked out the back door this morning....

I've installed several bird feeders outside my large living room window. In fact, that's what got me the title photo of the squirrel for this blog, but now I'm re-thinking the feeders' placement.

The other day as I was getting ready for work, I heard a consistent thump-thump-thump. Investigating, I found a tiny sparrow flinging itself bodily against the glass, seeking some sort of shelter, or whatever was inside. I was able to catch a couple bad photos as it quickly considered its options. I'm afraid to refill the feeder now as I think the poor bird may have died of a concussion and fallen to the ground below my window. Today there was another one doing the same thing!

....Then there are the Squirrels. As I mentioned, they've posed for photographs before, and in exchange I keep them well fed. They've befriended the dogs by carrying moldy oranges from neighbors' yards and dropping them in mine as gifts for Chance and Claire. Most recently for the squirrels I put a great big feeder in the back corner of the lot. Apparently the squirrels now own this tree, and have decided anything placed near it is theirs as well. Just last week I put up Christmas lights that I got on sale after the holidays (hold laughter till the end of the story) on two tree trunks in the back yard. I thought I'd just leave them up year round and only plug them in during the season. But the squirrels seem to think the big bulbs are toys, and enjoy chewing through the cables, wire and all. So, I no longer have plugs on the end of my light strings. What looks worse, Christmas lights up at the wrong time of year or bare ends of wires hanging off trees? I'm just waiting for a Chihuahua to saunter into the house with a bulb in their mouth....