squirrels | wordsfromanneli

June 6, 2021
by wordsfromanneli 26 Comments

Competition

Jasper and Caspar are two of Lincoln’s babies. They bumble and bounce around the woodshed and the trees, quite naively, unaware that danger lurks everywhere.

But today, Jasper cares only about eating.

“It’s a chilly day for June,” he says. “I have to eat something to warm up. I’ll try this bit of bark .”

“Oops! Oh darn. It fell between the logs. It wasn’t that tasty anyway. I need to find a cone.”

“Maybe there’s one tucked inside this stump.”

“Ho-Hohhhh!” says Caspar. “What are you up to, Jasper? Anything I can help you find?”

“Nothing! Nothing at all.” Jasper tries to sound convincing. “Why don’t you just go find your own cones, Caspar? This is MY stump.”

“Whew! Got rid of him. But now, to find a new cone. Let’s see…. Where can I find a cone? There must be some buried around here. I’m thinking, I’m thinking….”

“I’ll try digging here. Looks like a lot of digging has been going on.”

“Ahh … yes! My reward for all my hard work. Now I’d better find a safe place to eat it.”

Jasper and Caspar have once shared a nest

Now they just fight about who is the best.

Who can find hazelnuts, filberts, and cones?

Who fills his stomach then lies down and groans?

One finds a treasure, the other sneaks in,

Stuffs up his face from his cheeks to his chin,

Runs to a stump where he gobbles his loot,

Before brother jumps up to give him the boot.

Backflips and scampers around and around,

Climbing up fir trees till he can’t be found,

“I’ll get you for that,” Jasper chatters out loud.

“So catch me,” sneers Caspar. He’s feeling quite proud.

“What about sharing?” our Jasper exclaims.

Quivering mad, he is tired of these games.

“Dig,” Caspar says, “there are more cones to find,

It’s called competition, and that, I don’t mind.”

April 17, 2021
by wordsfromanneli 36 Comments

Nuts About Nuts

Ooh! Look what I found! Hee, hee. I knew I had some good ones stashed from last year.

Now to get into it without breaking a tooth.

Oh, yum!

Here’s the best part.

Bit stale … yup … that’s a last year’s for sure. “Best before” date’s been and gone.

Urrrrp! Hmm … starting to get a bit of a tummy ache.

Oh, what the heck. Might as well finish it.

One more bite. C’mon, Lincoln. You can do it.

Groan … anybody got any Gaviscon? Tums?

I’m nuts about nuts,

But they get to my guts,

And then I don’t feel so good.

With trees everywhere,

We can easily share,

There’s lots in my neighbourhood.

I eat the nutmeat,

It’s the tastiest treat,

But eating too much is not nice.

So high on my list,

Nuts are hard to resist,

See, even a squirrel has his vice.

*****

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https://annelisplace.wordpress.com/2021/04/17/the-truth-you-dont-need/

April 8, 2021
by wordsfromanneli 26 Comments

Reluctant Sharing

“I could hardly wait for my breakfast of sunflower seeds this morning, folks. It was darned chilly overnight and I needed a few heat calories.”

“While Lincoln takes a break to go chase Della around the woodshed, I’m going to sneak a few sunflower seeds. But oh my goodness, they’re big. I wonder if I bit off more than I can chew.”

“Did you see that sneaky thief getting into my stash? I only turned my back for a few seconds to go tell Della that breakfast is served, and that foxy sparrow was into my food. I’m going to have to put some of these away for a rainy day.”

“Not too far away, and still under the roof. That will keep it dry.”

“Now stay! — I’ve seen Anneli do this with Emma. She points her fingers at her and says, ‘Stay!’ I’ll do what she does. Cool, eh?”

“Silly Lincoln. Every time he goes to bury a sunflower seed, I can zip right in here and help myself to his breakfast. Oh well, survival of the fittest (and smartest – that’s me). There’s a reason they call me a fox sparrow.”

Sharing shelter, that’s okay,

Sometimes it works out that way,

Sharing food’s another thing,

Since it can starvation bring.

Oh, all right, I get fed well,

But when seeds are in their shell,

It takes time to eat them up,

In my hands shaped like a cup.

Then along comes foxy sparrow,

Sitting on the jar rim narrow,

Helps himself to food that’s mine,

No permission here to dine.

Go ahead then, help yourself,

Sitting there upon my shelf,

I will have to be more wary,

Sunflower seeds I now must bury.

April 6, 2021
by wordsfromanneli 44 Comments

A Windy Night

“Will ya look at that?” Emma says. “Branches all over the yard are bad enough, but that one that smashed into Lincoln’s house is huge. And it’s still up there!”

“I know! I saw the whole thing from inside my cedar hedge home when it happened.”

The Captain pulled the treetop off the woodshed roof with his old beater truck while the Admiral ran for the tape measure. Thirty feet snapped right off the top of a tree to the left of the woodshed.

And another long branch is still up there – it got hung up on the way down.

“Good grief!” wails Lincoln. “That was my lookout tree. The whole top is gone. And I had plans for all those cones left on the tree.”

“I feel just sick!”

The forces of nature make changes on Earth,

They make creatures realize what life is worth,

The wind can move trees and the branches around,

It howls and it yowls with a frightening sound,

The birds and the squirrels take cover and hide,

They shiver and shake while the storm they outride,

But after a night that they spent curled up tight,

They creep out and check in the bright morning light,

To see if their home world is standing there still,

It’s been slightly changed, but survive it they will.

March 27, 2021
by wordsfromanneli 21 Comments

Fir Cones

Lincoln finishes off yet another fir cone, leaving only the stem and a few messy bits on the ground. He likes to eat the seeds, one by one, from the base of the seedwings which are stuck to the stem of the cone. He spits away the rest, littering the forest floor with the brown dishlike flakes.

Then he goes into a fantasy world and pretends to be a star in his own movie. He takes the denuded fir cone stem and holds it like a king in a dubbing ceremony. Since Lincoln is alone he has to play the role of both the king and the young squirrel about to become a knight.

Are you ready?

A good bath is due, 
For the purification,
And so Lincoln scratches,
His mite infestation.

A red robe is worn, 
His fur coat has the hue,
For black shoes and socks,
His dark toenails will do.

The sword on the altar,
Awaits while Linc prays,
It should be ten hours, 
But that feels like days.

We'll gloss over that part,
A squirrel can't sit still,
At least he's not hungry,
He's eaten his fill.

Now here comes the king
He picks up the cone sword,
"Squire Squirrel," he says to him,
"Please harken my word."

The king lifts the cone sword
And whacks it right down,
Upon Lincoln's shoulder, 
And says with a frown.

"My faithful Squire Squirrel
While you kneel here alone,
I dub you, Sir Lincoln,
As knight you'll be known."

So whaddaya think, eh?

SIR Lincoln, heeheeheeheeheeeeeeeeee!

If you are a writer, please visit my other blog for a post about publishing.

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March 24, 2021
by wordsfromanneli 51 Comments

Hidden Pictures

Do you remember “Hidden Pictures” in the puzzle books for kids? The drawings were usually full of squiggly lines and somewhere in the maze of lines were smaller hidden pictures. The goal was to find them all.

In the photo below, there is only one hidden picture for you to find. It’s my friend Lincoln, the squirrel. Can you find him?

You may have to click to enlarge the photo to find him. If you can’t find him even after clicking to enlarge the photo, I’ve made it easy for you by adding the cropped photo below, that zeroes in on him.

I’m hiding cones for later snacks,

Someplace behind these wooden stacks.

Some niches in the wood will be

Where future goodies wait for me.

The problem is to finally choose,

And that location not to lose.

So many possibilities,

They challenge my abilities

To know what’s where and how to find

The yummy snacks I’ve left behind.

January 28, 2021
by wordsfromanneli 25 Comments

The White Stuff

“Eh? Orson? What’s that you said?” That Oregon junco knows everything that’s going on around here.

It's a chilly wind today,
My fur coat is on to stay,
I'm so happy to be warm,
With the temps below the norm.

“If you’d pay attention, Lincoln, you’d know there’s been a big change in the weather.” Him and his big fur coat. He probably hasn’t even noticed. But just look at Emma. She’s still trying to figure it out too.

Look now, Lincoln! See the ground,
See the flakes fall all around?
Food will be more precious though,
Covered as it is with snow.

“Sheesh! This is just like in the movies where Bambi says, ‘Mother, what’s all that white stuff?’ and she says, with her soft, stunned voice, like some naive housewife out of a 50s sitcom, ‘Why … it’s snow!'”

Emma snarfs in deep, long sniffs,
White stuff gives off special whiffs,
Did a raccoon pass by here?
Did a rabbit scratch his ear?

Licking, tasting flakes of snow. 
Tries to bite it, where'd it go?
Funny flakes of wetness fall,
On her head and over all.

Emma gives her coat a shake,
Leaving just one lonely flake,
Sitting on her pointy nose,
Then into the house she goes.

December 20, 2020
by wordsfromanneli 50 Comments

Christmas Acrostic

My effort at a double acrostic forced me to forego the rhyme factor, but I’ve tried to put together a Christmas message, using the first and last letters, read downwards. If we keep these things in mind, maybe we’ll help to improve someone’s life just a little bit.

And before you ask, no, it didn’t snow here, except up in the hills. This varied thrush visited the feeder a couple of years ago, but he looked so pretty on the snow, I wanted to put him in this post.

Knowing Yule is cominG,
It's time to trim the treE,
Now that I am senior, and the claN,
Depends on mE.
Need to fill the lardeR,
Extra goodie-food will be, sO,
Special in the coming dayS,
So smile and so will I.  
(Yikes! Where's the rhyme? Gone to the North Pole.)
And when it comes to Christmas nighT,
No stores will open staY,
Done with shopping, all's class A,
Good times at home remaiN.
If Christmas music fills our minD,
Vast troubles leave us alL,
In giving freely, as we dO
No need for price on luV.
Good will's enough and that is freE.

Ta-dah-dahdah-deedee.

Y’all have a wonderful Christmas time, y’hear?

And don’t pay too much attention to what those birds say. Their jabbering is for the birds.

May 21, 2020
by wordsfromanneli 41 Comments

Going Squirrely!

The Captain said the other day, “I think that’s enough Lincoln posts. They’re cute and all, but I think it’s time for something different.”

I agreed. I know I have a thing for Lincoln and his girlfriend, Della, but okay, enough is enough. No more squirrel posts.

But today, the Captain yelled, “Anneli, come quick and bring the camera. Della’s got three babies!”

I took about nine videos of them but a lot are blurry or there is background noise (someone mowing a lawn). I picked one that shows Della grooming her babies. They all have fleas or some other little parasites. If you watch closely you can see Della groom the babies and eat the pests that are “bugging” them.

Thanks for enduring yet another squirrel post. I had not intended to inflict any more on you, but you see, with these new additions, they’re so cute I couldn’t resist.

PS Don’t bother to look for Lincoln. Now that the kids have arrived, he’s “gone fishing.”

Della had a big surprise,

We could not believe our eyes,

Three young children showed today,

Leaping, turning, every way.

Della’s nerves are wearing thin.

Squirrel One, where have you been?

Squirrel Two, sit still and wait,

For your grooming though it’s late.

I will find that pesky flea

I will eat it, you’ll be free

Of those bites and itchy pain