Good morning and Happy Saturday everyone! Sitting on the deck early this morning with my cup of coffee, enjoying the quiet and calm of the morning. Quiet as far as traffic is concerned, no loud music, no people yelling and screaming like they were last night. Just birds singing. A chipmunk chipping. Sir George and Lady Pearl came by to have breakfast and chat a bit. But they never stay very long. A couple of bees flying among the flowers. A hummingbird at his feeder. That’s the hummingbird that nearly died in the cold this spring.

Remember when the female came along and tried to warm him up with her own body heat? That’s him. I think that female became his mate. Males don’t participate in looking after the young. And males don’t like having females come to “their” feeder. But this male lets a certain female come to the feeder and never chases her away. He has chased another female away, but not this one. I think he remembers what she did. How do I tell the females apart? They are identical, but when you watch close they each have special characteristics about them.

Just like chipmunks. At first glance they look identical too, but they each have their own characteristics that separate them from the others. Red squirrels are easier, it’s hard to find two that are identical, though it does happen at times. But they come in so many colors it’s usually very easy to tell them apart. The sun rises, still shining through smoke. There’s no breeze of any kind, the air is perfectly still. A dragonfly is flying high overhead looking for his breakfast. Pocket comes for peanuts, next comes Scooter, then Coffee and Skamper. A loon out on the lake is calling. Jasmine arrives for her breakfast. All is so peaceful, that early morning solitude.

Then Slim showed up. And solitude left in a hurry. He spotted Jasmine and charged. Jasmine waited until he got close, she jumped, wow what a fight. Rolling around on the deck, but Slim won and Jasmine retreated to the boxes where he couldn’t get at her. Slim came for a peanut. This time Jasmine charged. Slim stood his ground, and got pushed about 2 feet. The fight was on and Slim ran with Jasmine right behind. She came back and 30 seconds later so did Slim. He wasn’t going to give up that easily. He charged again and Jasmine ran. She came back and Slim attacked and she ran again. She came back and pounced on Slim, they rolled together and Slim ran for his life.

They were gone a long time. This repeated twice more and Slim never returned. Meanwhile Chase and Freddie came and started fighting. Chase won, Freddie left. That’s when Jasmine came back and spotted Chase in “her” spot. She charged, Chase tried to stand firm, bad mistake. Jasmine was angry now and Chase ran for his life and didn’t come back. In between all this the chipmunks managed to get some peanuts too. Jasmine won today, but I don’t think Slim is ready to give up just yet. Oh well. It’s quiet again. Have a wonderful Saturday everyone and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2021 Steve McLeod.