My back yard is now a No-Squirrel Zone. I finally took off the netting I had wrapped around my apple tree, the plastic hawk is gone, and my lovely Anna apples are getting a pink blush with no poke holes or bite marks.  I still saw two squirrels up in a pine tree making a lot of racket.  They were either fighting or having sex… maybe both, I couldn’t tell.  I’m making salmon patties and roasted potatoes for supper.

I reclaimed my apple tree!  It looks like my squirrel (I’m calling him Gary) doesn’t like spicy food.  So my spray concoction worked although I haven’t eaten one of the apples yet.  I may have to sandblast it before serving. Now I like squirrels again.  My stepmom is back in town with her husband and he is having surgery tomorrow at the VA Hospital.  I’ll be spending most of the day there.  I don’t mind that except we have to be there at 6 am!  I remember a time when I used to get home at 6 am.  Gotta go sleep.

I said, “Bring it,” and he brought it, and some of his friends, apparently.  This morning there were four apples on the ground, mostly eaten.  I put away my plastic hawk last night because it scared away all our beautiful birds and I wrapped the apple tree with netting.  They ate the apples right through the netting. Last year they ate my plums. So I found a special formula to spray on the apples that includes vinegar, canola oil, soap, tabasco, and mustard. Let’s see how my thieving little rodents like them apples!

I’m getting hit from all sides! First the deer (but she’s so cute..) eats everything on my hill, and today my jaw dropped when I saw a squirrel sneaking across the back yard with one of my apples in his mouth! I didn’t want to believe it.  That’s MY apple tree! I planted it! How many has he taken so far?  An apple a day? I grabbed my camera but the stealth rodent disappeared.  They are rodents aren’t they? Sure, they’re cute with their fuzzy little tails but I was so mad I would have bought a squirrel coat today just to get even.  But instead, I bought a plastic hawk and put it in the tree. “Bring it,” squirrel.

I just planted some flowers on the hill behind my house and today I looked out and this deer is stuffing her fat face with everything she can find.  I kept yelling, “Go away! This is not a buffet!” She didn’t even look up. So I barked, trying to sound like a coyote and not a chihuahua, and she finally looked up, still chewing, as if to say, “What’s all the racket? Can you hold it down,  I’m trying to have lunch here.”