Carol,
Nice post it takes one back to the simple things..There must be something pretty about Butch that I just haven't seen yet. All that I see when I look at him is a "Bugger" LOL!
Denny
PS There is a bunch of new stuff on the conversation side that got bumped over .This thread will probably be too.

Lovely thoughts, Carol!!!! Thank you for sharing them!!!

Yep--this will make it's way to the "Conversation side'!!!
Always good to check that side for really good stuff, ya'll!

Where and what is the conversation side?????? Mary

Mary,
When you open the forum it has three columns at the top.
forum, gallery, and conversations .You are on the forum now. The gallery has lots of photos and the conversation side is for topics that are not considered direct Hosta topics. If you start a post that is not directly Hosta related it will get bumped to the conversation thread. It is like magic the way that it suddenly disappears! Both are pretty cool and sooo complete the forum. You haven't lived till you have been to "THE OTHER SIDE"LOL!

Denny

OOOPs! I meant to say exchanges, Gallery and conversations.
Exchanges is a dark and evil thread from which there is no return!

Denny

Denny, thank you for the info. Of course I looked at Exchanges first!! Now I have a whole new world out there, and I was happy to see our favorite old (not in years) friends posting. Carol~really neat thread. It certainly is good to sometimes just take more time to observe and appreciate what one has. Although all I have to do is wander out my back door to feel my heart skip a beat realizing that my yard and gardens are my love and whatever goes on there my entertainment. Last winter I looked out my window just as a large rabbit was streaking at full speed across the yard to the back of the shed. That rabbit was being chased, also at full speed, by a CAT! The rabbit came around the shed but the cat didn't so he somehow fooled his pursuer. I continued to see this feral cat, who was often joined by another, until spring arrived and then they both disappeared. I wonder if they'll be back this winter to enliven my days. Mary

Carol~ I sent you an email about finnegan the squirrel. Mary

Carol,
Its so strange that you posted this, it was on my mind all weekend to post something about the positive side of squirrels. We have a book in the library called "Outwitting Squirrels" that is full of great ideas and humor and tidbits about squirrels. I cant remember many but,for instance, not many people know that a black squirrel is a grey squirrel that just happened to be born black. Its just like kittens and puppies, they dont have to look alike. If you trap a squirrel and move him out of his territory his chances of surviving are very slim. He will be chased off everywhere he goes until he finally dies of starvation, gets hit by a car, or hopefully, finds his way back home. Baby squirrels are born in January and August. They will mate in the month they were born the following year. You can tell the age of a squirrel by the lines on his tail. If a squirrel should happen to lose part of his tail or become phyiscally altered it will never find a mate to accept him/her. I LOVE SQUIRRELS!!!

There is a gray squirrel that comes here to feed on birdseed that I occasionally put out for them,that I call Bob. He has a very short tail,hence the name! I don't have a problem with squirrels,unless they dig in my potted plants. I found a plant growing in one of them one time,and I pulled it out,thinking it was a weed;but down at the end of the stem was a Walnut! I now have a potted Walnut tree in my garden,but I will probably plant it elsewhere in the spring. Phil

Upnort
Thank you for all that great information, i did not know if a suqirrel loses part of his tail he-she will never find a mate,so sad, i have a couple like that out back.
Just this morning i was talking to my neighbore on the phone and i was watching one of my hosta moving and moving, i am wondering what the heck is going on over there,about 10 min, or longer, i wanted to see if what ever it was would come out, and it did, a young squirrel,there has been some interbreading going on back here,lol
He is a gray squirrel with a very long skinny, i mean, skinny,red tail,pretty soon another one showes up, i believed it was a couple of young ones, but after reading your info. ,now i am sure of it, have not seen these two before.
I watched a suqirrel a couple of years ago strip the bark of a tree,it was so interesting to watch,she keept pulling and pulling at the bark,until she got long stripes of it,then she would carry it up to her nest,come back for more,and do this over and over again, i thought for sure the tree would be dead the next year,but it still just as healthy as ever,my thoughts on this,maybe the tree serves the purpose it was meant to serve,and it is such that it does not kill this paticular tree,our creator desigened things in such a fashion.I am only a guest here with the honor to see thing happen that i would not ordinarily get to see.
I will have to look for that book upnort, it sounds like a fun read,thanks for that information.
Carol

Carol,
Yes, squirrels are just like some humans, if theres something wrong with a person then its shunned. It is sad. I had a squirel get hit by a car in front of my house and he dragged himself into my yard and hid out for 3 weeks. I watched for him everyday and thought for sure he died. He finally showed up but still dragged his leg and his tail and he couldnt sit up. He would come to eat after all the others would leave. I watched him get picked on until he finally crawled away for good. Without the protection of his tail to keep him warm and being outcasted Im sure he never made it through the winter. Anyway,I hope you find the book. There is also one called Outwitting deer which is also funny and imformative.
Oh, a tidbit about chipmunks, Chip and Dale would never happen in real life, chipmunks hate each other.

I like them too, even though they do, do a little unrequired digging...LOL
This is my new little friend, I call him/her Rat, the cats aren't crazy about his intrusions on their deck.

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This little guy comes around daily begging for peanuts.

I have never seen a black squirrel. How beautiful. We have had a red squirrel in the past but I'm sure hunters have taken her/him.

I like squirrels too. They make me laugh. They chit,chit, chit at us like they're swearing as if we're invading 'their' territory by sitting in their garden. They've learned to pick the walnuts before they fall and strip off the green outer part and throw it to the ground. Then they take the nut into the place between the ceiling and roof of the house where they live. Yes this is bad, bad, bad. Does anyone have an idea of what to do about this? I know we have to get rid of them. We'd talked about trapping them and moving them but because of the comments above, now I can't do that. I was always afraid I'd be moving the parents while the babies get left behind anyway. Last year someone said to put an ultra-violet light in the space and they'd hate it and leave. Everytime some glitch happens around here with the phone, the computer, the tv we think they've finally chewed the wires and now we're sunk. Any ideas would be welcome before we find ourseles sitting in the dark!

P.S. Anything related to guns or shooting or poision is not an option.

McT, we had squirrels above the ceiling in our cabana, and someone suggested that we pop moth balls into the hole. Worked like a charm, they couldn't stand the smell and vacated. We didn't do this when they got in the house, because we couldn't easliy reach the hole they chewed to pop them in (don't know what the smell in the house would have been like). It didn't hurt them, they just left and then we put screen over the hole and patched it up. This works well for racoons, and groundhogs, although the groundhogs are known to shove the mothballs out of their hole.

PIM

PS: I like squirrels....fried. LOL!! (just kidding).

goldedger,
Rat is a lady and by the looks of it had babies in august. Altho usually smaller, blacks are fiestier than their grey brothers and sisters and will get into more trouble. She has a beautiful coat.

Wonderful story Carol. Yes, I love squirrels too.
For years, before I gardened much, squirrels were our entertainment. We had feeders that held corn cobs in our trees and bought them trail mix out of the bargain bin at the store. I also fed them peanuts in the shell.
Over the years we've had several favorites come and go.

upnort I also had heard that trapping them to relocate would mean death to them. Unfortunately we have a neighbor that thinks he is in charge of the squirrel population in our neighborhood. He has trapped numerous squirrels and I'm sure that's what happened to some of our favorites. I have told him that they will not survive when relocated, but you can't tell a man anything.

There's a town in southern Illinois called Olney that has white squirrels and is quite proud of them. I have also seen black squirrels in the Moline IL area.

I love your pictures goldedger and noticed your cat in the first picture watching intently. Our outdoor cats just sit and watch the squirrels too. They know the squirrels are faster so I think they gave up the chase.

Janet

Here is a link that might be useful: Olney Illinois White Squirrels