Happy Canada Day!

Check out this little guy who was hanging out in our backyard with his siblings and mom yesterday, stuffing Saskatoon berries in his mouth as fast as he could.

After the photoshoot, Mama and cubs took off to find a quieter eating establishment:


Then this morning, we found this young groundhug sunning himself on our new deck:



I commented on how cute he was, and Jeff pointed out how he wouldn't be so cute when the little guy is chomping down on my plants. I bet the squirrels trained him.

Speaking of squirrels, thanks (I think :-D) to my friend Dave Weingart for pointing me to this somewhat disturbing video:



Happy Canada Day, everyone!

Painting on the iPhone -- plus more Evil Squirrel tidbits

Wow. I'm impressed that artist Jorge Columbo had the patience to paint the image above on the iPhone; he used a $4.99 iPhone app called Brushes (which, of course, I was compelled to immediately buy).

But back to Evil Squirrels and gardening...



Thanks for pointing out that lavender CAN be eaten, everyone. David even posted a recipe for Honey and Lavender ice cream

Lots of advice on how to keep the squirrels away, including using (er...thanks, Margaret! :-D) human urine. But I was most amused by the following exchange of advice from my friends John Chew and Bruce Macintosh:

John:
I’ve heard people recommend sprinkling blood meal on the soil to keep squirrels away, but that presumably doesn’t work on carnivorous vampire squirrels.

Bruce:
Blood meal? Are you kidding? That’ll set off a feeding frenzy. Were the “people” who recommended that 7 inches tall and furry?

Heh. :-)

Evil Squirrels

Embracing the warmer weather, Jeff and I picked up a bunch of plants at a local nursery on the weekend. I tend to opt for plants I can eat while Jeff prefers nicer-looking plants that blend with the rest of the garden. My choices: sweet basil, Italian parsley, marjoram, German thyme, woolly thyme, red creeping thyme, peppermint, spearmint, sage, rosemary, stevia, two types of tomato plants, eggplant, red pepper, zucchini, cucumber and lavender. Ok, I can't eat lavender, but I love the fragrance.



Last year, I tried planting most of my herbs from seed but got discouraged when the squirrels dug up many of my seedlings after I spent weeks nurturing them before transplanting them outdoors. This year I opted for young plants instead.



I sprinkled cayenne pepper after transplanting them into pots, hoping to keep away the squirrels. Unfortunately it rained, washing away the cayenne, and this morning there were GAPING HOLES in the soil of many of the pots; looks like the squirrels have been digging again. I've liberally sprinkled more cayenne pepper -- I'm going to have to find a bulk supplier.



Speaking of squirrels, I'm pretty sure one died in the ceiling of my office recently. There were noises up there for a bit, but the noises stopped. Then the smell began. Ugh.

When I posted about this in Facebook, my friend Bruce Macintosh wrote:

It's also possible that the silence indicates the squirrel has stopped feeding and the smell comes from a recent kill. Are any neighbors missing?

:-D

Giant Squirrel Invasion In Toronto!

So I woke up this morning and sleepily went downstairs to get some breakfast, but something caught my eye as I passed the living room, so I turned....and then saw THIS:



At first I just stood there, blinking like a cartoon character, wondering if I was still asleep.





I went into the kitchen, where two more Evil Squirrels peered in:



And another as I headed down toward my office:



Jeff's still asleep, so I'm here trying to figure out who was responsible. Hmmm....someone who knew our house well enough to cut each squirrel picture to fit our windows ALMOST EXACTLY. Someone who rarely sleeps like a normal person so was able to drive up to our house and sneak around at 2 or 3 am when everyone else is asleep.

Someone who has played April Fool's and other scarily well-planned jokes on us before, maybe?

And someone who is, without a doubt, unaware that my capacity for seeking creative retribution is unmatched...

See LJ comments here.

Cajun Squirrel Chips?

This anonymous (no return address or note) package came for me in the mail today. I haven't yet worked up the nerve to actually try them. Heh.

So 'fess up...who sent this package? I notice it came from the UK.