Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Jasper And The Chipmunks.
Good morning everyone! Happy Saturday to all of you as well! Well, it seems like Jasper has listened to my advice and has stopped chasing the chipmunks. He does do the customary chirping and sometimes the angry squirrel dance. But that’s it. He no longer wastes his time and energy chasing the chipmunks. He saves his energy for chasing the other squirrels that come around. For their part, the chipmunks don’t bother Jasper but instead have turned their attention to Freddie, the other main squirrel around here. And Freddie chases the chipmunks which gets him tired out and then Jasper can easily chase Freddie away. Otherwise it’s a very equal fight between those two.
Like yesterday, Jasper was eating some sunflower seeds and Freddie came along and attacked Jasper. What a fight between those two! It was a wild time! And Freddie won with Jasper running away. That’s bad. Enter the chipmunks. First it was Skamper. Freddie spotted him and it was hate at first sight. Freddie began the chase! Skamper ran around the boxes with Freddie right behind. Then came Chester just as Skamper ran around another box. Freddie took off after Chester who quickly went in and out of a box. Freddie tried, but it was the small side doors and Freddie didn’t fit so well, so it slowed him down. Enter Pocket who likes to bite, and…chomp. That made Freddie move and run in circles! He came out a larger door and ran after Pocket. Skamper came back out and Freddie turned quickly to chase Skamper and slid into the corner of a box. He shook his head, then spotted Pocket again and the chase was on! Pocket went over the edge…so did Freddie.
He didn’t land too well. Up he came, spotted Chester and the chase was on! Chester went down the stairs and Freddie was going to follow, but Skamper came into view at the last minute causing Freddie to turn abruptly, hitting a post and tumbling down a couple of stairs. He came back up, spotted Skamper filling up with peanuts and began the chase. Skamper went over the edge and so did Freddie. But, like Jasper, he just hasn’t learned to land right. He came back up, no chipmunks in sight so he went back for some sunflower seeds, since there were no peanuts left. Jasper comes back. Freddie turns and leaps on Jasper, they fall to the deck in a ball and roll around chirping. Finally they let go and Jasper chases Freddie away. It almost looked planned, but I know it wasn’t. I think. It was quite amazing though. I tried for pictures but that was a totally wasted effort, those critters move just a little too fast. Very fast. But it was fun to watch. I hope you all have a great Saturday and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve’s Bird Of The Day #51.
Hi everyone! Today we continue with the Canada goose. Their babies are called goslings. Usually 5 to 7 eggs are laid. Even though the Canada geese are wonderful and very protective parents, usually only half of the goslings survive to adulthood. They have a strong family bond and the young will stay with their parents for a full year until returning to their breeding location the following spring. They sometimes breed in their first year, but usually not until their second or third year. Goslings start communicating with their parents before they hatch. They have greeting peeps, distress calls and a high pitched trill which is thought to express contentment. Adult Canada geese have at least 13 different calls. The young start off with yellow down which darkens to gray fairly quickly. Feathers begin to grow within a few weeks and by the time the goslings are about half grown they are getting the markings of the adults, but paler. By fall they are identical to the parents. When swimming, the female goes first and the male at the rear where he can watch over his family carefully.
Have a wonderful day everyone and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2021 Steve McLeod.
Steve`s Country 