Monday, July 28, 2008

Squirrel!

Interesting nature story told by a friend over dinner Friday night.

In an attempt to stop the squirrels and chipmunks from raiding the bird feeders in her yard, she erected a squirrel feeder, loaded up with all sorts of nuts and corn.

The thing seemed to be doing the trick, as the feral rodents flocked to it.

All was well, until the other day when she was out walking her dog, heard a loud "scree, scree!" from above and watched as a Red-tailed Hawk streaked from the sky and picked a chipmunk off the feeder.

The hawk, knowing a good thing when he sees it, has returned regularly to dine -- what my friend had intended to be a nut-filled squirrel feeder has in fact become a squirrel-filled hawk feeder.

My friend is okay with the whole survival-of-the-fittest aspect of this thing, although she deeply resents having to wipe blood off the squirrel feeder every time she refills it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Raptor's Delight All-The-Squirrel-You-Can-Eat Buffet (Now with Chipmunk!).

The perfect nexus of the Circle of Life with the Law of Unintended Consequences.

3 comments:

Craig Bob said...

I'd get me one of those if it didn't put Junior in mortal danger.

Lora said...

I gotta get me one of them squirrel-filled hawk feeders! Better 'n tee vee.

JBlog said...

I'm thinking about getting one myself, just for the entertainment value. WAY better than TV.

You got squirrels in Paris?

No danger for Junior -- he's more of snack than a meal, I'd guess.