Squirrel 2, Sheepdogs 0
And now the squirrel has gone on the offensive. Next to the redwood tree is an apricot tree which has gotten large and within an easy jump for Mr. Squirrel... which he has been doing with great frequency since the apricots have developed, still green and hard but crackable for a determined squirrel to get at the tempting nut inside. Yes, I know, apricot seeds are said to be poisonous. Not to squirrels apparently. So the squirrel now jumps to the apricot tree, driving the dogs even more nuts. Then he dares to lounge on an upper branch, in plain view but just out of reach of a jumping 100 pound sheepdog, as he picks a choice fruit and casually nibbles off one end to extract the nut inside. Then, and I have seen this with my own eyes and can attest to its truth, the squirrel tosses the largest piece down so that it connects with a sheepdog head more often than not. Nothing is more aggravating to a fully grown sheepie than to get beaned by a miserable squirrel. All they can manage in response is to pick up the offending apricot from the ground and mash it in their teeth in frustration-- both of my dogs do it. It would be laughable to me, if not for the fact that later in the night I am awakened by the sound of retching as one or the other of the dogs regurgitates the indigestible remains of three or four bitter green apricots-- usually on the edge of the bed when I have failed to awaken in time to let him out. Maybe I should say Squirrel 2, Sheepdogs 0, Humans less than 0. The peach tree comes into fruit next month. Can't wait. |
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| maybe suspend a net above the dogs reach to catch the discards?
At least it would protect their heads  |
| Great story, and you tell it so well! I can just picture it all happening! I can also just hear the squirrel yelling, "Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!" (Translation - you can't catch me!) |
| Maybe you ought to invest in a tilt-a-squirrel |
| I have a lovely picture in my head of the squirrel eating the nut, lounging back in the tree, getting annoyed by the dogs and throwing the fruit at them as if to say "quit barking" |
| Great story! How very funny. |
| Too funny, had to read that one out to DH, he had a good laugh too.
Do they make crash helmets for dogs? |
| I have to applaude the sheepies for their determination and dedication over the years, in their combined ambition to catch Mr Squirrel.
The two clowns are entertaining not only Mr Squirrel but also the two leggeds. GO SHEEPIES!  (go Mr Squirrel , sorry I don't want anyone to get hurt.  ) |
| Sounds entertaining
Look at it this way - your dogs aren't bored and digging holes in the lawn, right??!  |
| Too funny, I can picture that squirrel looking down at those sheepies. |
| oh you have me lol boy brings back my sweet girls day and doll that was their entire life barking and chasing one of those bugger.. one day i found just a tail poor guy i think dolly pulled his tail off,, never did see that one again!! thanks for bring back such good memories |
| The tide of battle has changed for the worse if you are a sheepdog. The squirrel has brought in reinforcements. There are now THREE of them in the apricot tree. I had no idea we've been harboring a nest of the little pests. Perhaps it's a litter and mama squirrel has decided that sheepdogs are nothing but bluff and the big furry lumps pose no real danger to her troop.
Right now the squirrels are chattering loudly in defiance from up in the tree—nothing but bullies now that they seem to have the upper hand. Charlie and Toby have retreated, leaving the field to the victorious squirrels for the time being. Toby's bark has turned high-pitched, like a puppy who accidentally got in the way of the top dog. Charlie, my older, more dominant dog is doing his best to ignore the squirrels as if they are suddenly beneath his notice. Maybe the dogs will plot a new strategy. I hope so, but it looks like they are overmatched by the upstart rodents. And what looked like a pretty good crop of apricots this year is rapidly turning into a wasteland of squirrel leavings. |
| What a picture this must be! My Phoebe is crazy about squirrels. Her prior owner told me that she actually caught one once. She got it by the tail and flung it up in the air and let it go. Can you just see the shocked squirrel flying through the air!
And they never seem to learn. Winston eats all kinds of inedibles on a regular basis. Yakking up such items is a regular event. But I've never gotten used to it. |
| To funny--like a reality show! Can't wait for the next episode! |
| is it hunting season yet - ooops |
| This is both funny and sad at the same time. Oh the humilation your two are suffering at the hands of those obnoxious squirrels. Their only hope of maintaining their dignity is to pretend the squirrels don't exist.
Like Karen, I can hardly wait for the next installment of this saga. I am rooting for Charlie and Toby to turn the tables on the pesky squirrels. |
| Today has clearly been a big setback for the sheepdogs. I tried to get a picture of the three squirrels up in the apricot tree after their victory over the sheepies. But as soon as I crept up to get the shot, one of them spied me, issued the "New Enemy Sighted!" alarm and all three jumped over to a branch of the redwood and scampered up to the top carrying an arm-load of apricots.
I never got the picture. But I came across the spot under the tree where Charlie had been on guard earlier—until he had to retreat under the merciless barrage of half-eaten apricots hurled by the rodent army. All that was left was the spent remains of the barrage that Charlie had bravely withstood. 
So I went back inside to join the dogs in defeat. I found Charlie rummaging through his large and well-stocked bag of toys (the dogs do very well at Christmas), looking for something. "Ah-HAH! I got him!" 
"What? You mean there's more?" 
Well, tomorrow is another day, I guess. Maybe reinforcements will show up in the form of Kaylee, the neighbor's dog who spends half her time at our place anyway. Kaylee's older and a pretty smart dog—experienced, you might say. The squirrels might just be in for it tomorrow. |
| get a cat or three! |
| I love it! I had to read this one to my hubby!
Sunny barely notices that squirrels can run up trees. When we're camping, we're always trying to get her to notice them, and she does for a second or two, and dashes after them. But once they're up a tree, she just stops, looks around, and stares back at us like "huh? did I imagine that?". She hasn't discovered the elusive 3rd dimension of "up"!! I think on camping trips she's too concerned with trying to sneak marshmallows to care about much else. It's too bad, your story sounds so funny, I'd love to see Sunny hunting (not that she'd ever catch anything!). |
Archies Slave wrote: is it hunting season yet - ooops
When you are a sheepdog, its always hunting season. |
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| Sounds like they need to dig some trenches, get some sandbags filled and make themselves a shelter from which to observe the enemy and launch counter attacks.
Maybe Kaylee will get the guys organise when she comes over. |
| The picture with the toy of choice is hilarious. |
Archies Slave wrote: get a cat or three!
Well, get three then. Because my mother's cat, an experienced huntress, was defenseless against the little trolls. I remember watching out my mom's kitchen window, cat asleep on the picnic table, when I saw this immature squirrel jump up on the bench closest to her. He kept edging closer and I thought for sure I was about to see natural selection at its finest, scenario being that the cat turned around and made sure he had no chance to contribute his not-so-smart genes to future squirrel populations, when he leaned over and tweaked the tip of her tail that was hanging over the edge. Cat leaped up like a cartoon figure, hair sticking out everywhich way and whirled to dispatch the enemy who was already long gone and as best I can tell chattering little squirrely insults at her whilst chuckling maniacally (well, that was my translation anyway, since I don't speak squirrel) I can't be sure obviously, but my sense is that the furry rodents have a sense of humor. Or a death wish. Maybe both. (Every tried to NOT run over one that is crossing the road and can't make up his mind which way to dodge?  )
Kristine |
| We have a herd of them in our yard. My husband chums them in with peanuts and Chauncey chases them. Once he gets them tree'd he lifts his front paw and looks up at them like a pointer...guess he's breed confused |
| Two days later...
Kaylee has not been over. (She has gone from being a frequent, but unpredictable visitor to a foster member of the family and back to being a frequent visitor. But that is another thread and another story.) Charlie and Toby have re-grouped. They have the upper hand on the ground (No lousy squirrel should consider himself safe from a pair of 100 pound, male sheepdogs, after-all) but the squirrel tribe still rules the aerial campaign. The dogs have recaptured their positions on the front line under the redwood trees. Here they sit for hours at a time, staring up into the branches, on the lookout for a squirrel to have a misstep in his leap from the redwood to the apricot tree and perhaps even hope for a slip from a branch that might land a squirrel within range of a snatch and grab. Here's Charlie on guard under the nearest tree while Toby takes up position under the other. 
Wait! There's one right above me on the next branch! 
Here is what he saw. The enemy draped on a limb just out of reach. (Sorry about the blurry picture. The little bugger gave me the evil eye just before I snapped the shot and I had to get out of there fast.) 
Moments later, Charlie jumped— a might leap that almost, but not quite, reached the squirrel. Unfortunately, the trees are on a hill side and when Charlie landed, his feet went out from under him and he rolled down the hill. Shaking off the dirt, he recovered his dignity enough to walk back with me into the house where he collapsed on the floor, panting in exhaustion and humiliation. Toby, while a good soldier for the most part, was not about to heroically man the front lines by himself and followed a moment later. So we seem to have settled into a war of attrition with the squirrels, like the trench warfare in WWI. They have now pretty much stripped the apricot tree of all fruit above the lowest branches. No apricot pies for me this year I guess. But the good thing is that this means they are running low on ammunition and will have to venture into the lower branches where sheepdogs lurk. I have always enjoyed having quite a bit of native foothill wildlife in the yard. We have the usual songbirds and occasionally the dogs get a young one who falls out of the nest. My wife hates that. "Poor baby bird." Then there are the wild turkeys and quail who occasionally come into the yard and almost don't get out. And in the springtime we always get hundreds of little tree frogs that come up from the creek. Toby goes for those, catching them as they jump using his skill from catching flies on the wing (He's amazingly good at that.) Then there are the other occasional critters, voles (meadow mice), skunks and possums. Has everyone else tried to get the smell out of a long haired sheepdog after he has been skunked at close range? That's one reason I keep them short. Possums are just smelly, nasty creatures in my opinion. I can't believe there are places in this country where they are welcome on the dinner table. I don't really have a good feeling about the family of coyotes we had in the neighborhood a couple of years ago either. Made all of the dogs nervous. And then there are the snakes... four species. A little tree snake called a striped racer that raids bird next of their eggs mostly, gopher snakes, king snakes... and of course, rattlesnakes. The dogs never pick up the snakes but they are intensely curious about the slithery creatures, creeping up from behind and sniffing them. I worry about the dogs getting bit one day by a rattlesnake. Right now, I would do with a snake or two if they would rid us of those pesky squirrels, though. I don't know if anyone wants to hear any more of this saga. Its looking like the squirrels are here to stay. At least the dogs stay entertained. |
| I love your story Richard....don't stop now.
Trivia: Did you know that Camel hair brush is made from squirrel's tail? The name "Camel" for the name of the brush came from the inventor's name of Camel. |
| Oh do keep it going GREAT STORY and the pics are fun!! We have to know how it turns out! |
| Well, I'm just now catching up, so I got all three installments at once. But, I've got to say that I've been about to fall in the floor laughing and would be sorely disappointed if we didn't get to hear more of this ongoing saga.
By all means, please do continue...  |
| Kaylee came to join the battle today. I'm real curious to see if my guys can learn from a real experienced female. They say females make the best hunters.
The dog pack headed straight up to the hill under the trees. The enemy suddenly stopped their incessant chattering... Kaylee surveys the battlefield and Toby thinks he sees one. 
There's one in the apricot tree! 
How do you climb this thing?  |
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