Shady Hollow Critters

We have white squirrels at Shady Hollow. No, not albino squirrels, white squirrels. They are not "special" other than the coat color. Just plain old everyday gray squirrels with white coats and maybe a stripe down their backs or a black spot between their ears.

They sure are cute though! Destructive too, just like the regular ones, but for some reason we tolerate their mischief more before we try to chase them away from bird feeders and flower beds. People on the roads around here will try to miss the white squirrels on occasions when the grays would be toast.

The trees around Shady Hollow are full of squirrel nests, thanks to the plentiful supply of food and water our bird feeding efforts supply. Currently, bits and pieces of acorn peels and hickory nut hulls fall like rain from the trees as the little 'limb rats' (gray and white) enjoy the feast. They are storing food for winter, even getting on the back deck to bury acorns in my flower pots.

We also have a few families of chipmunks. They are also busy, eating nuts the squirrels drop and hiding acorns in my flower pots. Every year I have oak, hickory, and other tree seedlings to pull from pots and flower beds before I can start my seeds.

The last two days, Jim and I have watched a hungry rabbit eating the bean plants in the garden. He/she ate the plants to the ground, but left the mature bean pods. We marveled at that. It was an example of nature knowing that by leaving the seed pods, a crop of new plants would be available next year. Of course, this makes a rabbit fence a guaranteed item on my to-do gardening list next spring.