Squirrels... and Their Watcher

I've been mostly at home, sick, the last several days. Yesterday the squirrels caught my eye... and that of one of the most devoted bird-and-squirrel-watchers in the household (see final photo).

Red squirrel looking out of one of its tunnel entrances under the feeders

Gray squirrel with a face-dusting of snow from foraging

Gray squirrel, finally able to get past the squirrel guard and pig out

Watcher whose body language alerts me that there's something outside

Squirrel and Cat (Thank Goodness for Glass)

A curious young squirrel has been investigating our front window, in between clean-up-the-seeds stints under our bird feeders. The cats, of course, are driven mad by this behavior. Here is a very close encounter. Thank goodness for the intervening glass.

Cats Watching "The Life of Birds"

I try not to put tons of cute cat photos here, but when I discovered that they loved watching "The Life of Birds" I felt that was entirely appropriate for this birdwatching blog.

Fascinated by a canvasback duck.

Yes, that owl has a small rodent in its mouth.

The short video below shows Orion interacting with the screen. The light and sound aren't very good.

Bats (and Cats)

I have forgotten to tell you about the bat. I was reminded because this morning it was back again. Several weeks ago there was a bat outside the front door of our office. It wasn't bothering anyone, just hanging out. Eventually it was thought best to shoo it away. But this morning it, or another one, was back in the same area.

I don't mind bats, and I know that they are very helpful to have around to control the mosquito population, for one thing. But I've also read that if you see a bat under unusual conditions, it's got a considerably higher than normal chance of having rabies. The Centers for Disease Control web page about rabies notes, after commenting on all the reasons to be tolerant of bats:

However, any bat that is active by day, is found in a place where bats are not usually seen (for example, in a room in your home or on the lawn), or is unable to fly, is far more likely than others to be rabid. Such bats are often the most easily approached. Therefore, it is best never to handle any bat.

I don't care for bats when they are flying at me. In my first few months of living in Northfield, I once found myself shut into a basement laundry room with several bats circling me. I shut the door after the first bat I saw flew out into the larger basement. I thought I was now safe, only to find at least a couple more still inside with me. Eeek. After I got myself out of there, I called my mother in California to tell her, and she said, "But Pen, bats are so interesting! (See where I get it?)

Another time I was alone at work at my desk in an old building on a college campus. After I'd been there quite a while, an odd bit of color caught my eye, and it turned out that a small bat was quietly hanging on the short filing cabinet next to my desk. As in, about two feet away from my right arm. The poor thing was dead under an office chair the next day, and I carefully and discreetly buried it in a flower bed outside.

While looking just now for the photos I'd taken of the bat the first day we saw it, I came across this photo of our two cats, Callie and Jeeves, earlier this summer. They are undoubtedly watching either a bird or a squirrel, as they are looking so attentively through the screen toward the area right under our bird feeders. I like the similarity of their posture as they watch whatever it is. Hey, cats rhymes with bats. Good enough for me.