Animals and Me

Last month I asked my husband if I could have a bird feeder since he had said earlier that he didn't like the mess birds made. But he relinquished and let me get one. I knew we had cardinals in the back yard somewhere because I could hear them singing. I had previously worked in a hardware store and knew that cardinals liked safflower seed and squirrels did not. I have been feeding the squirrels corn for several years now and they are such fun to watch but I didn't want them eating the birdseed. So I decided on Safflower seed.

Well, much to my surprised the birds found the feeder almost immediately which is a bit unusual. It generally takes them a while to find it. Now we have cardinals, blue jays, beautiful little burgandy headed house finches and other birds I don't know eating safflower seed. However, I did not know that the squirrels little cousin, the chipmunk likes safflower seed too. I caught him red handed in the act, stuffing his little cheeks as full as he can get them and running home to unload the treasure. One day I caught him taking corn and he had his little cheeks so full that as he ran across the deck he dropped a piece. He stopped and ran back, looked right at me in the window and stuffed the dropped piece back in his mouth and bolted for home. They are such fun and when I'm tired or bored I take a seat at the window and just watch the goings on of the animal kingdom on my back deck.

It baffles me that some people say animals are dumb. They are not dumb. They have relationships and responsibilities just like we do. Sometimes I like to be an invisible occupant in their homes and see firsthand how they talk and relate to each other. I think we are not so far above the animals as we like to think.

Anyway, just had to share my animal stories with you. Hope you enjoyed it.