Addled Animals

Open water. Blue skies. And high times around Hideaway pond. Only two weeks ago it was a white snow covered sheet of ice. But a warm welcome breath of spring air intervened for a few days. It left a stretch of open water about 6 feet wide between the ice and the “mainland”. An island dwelling squirrel, accustomed to rapidly crossing the ice from island to shore, failed to notice this and took an impromptu dip. It was not amused. No laughing matter to the squirrel. And take my word for it. Never piss off a wet squirrel. However, we smiled discretely behind our hands as we sat in the warm observation perch of our newly winterized “sun porch”. A name gifted it by my lovely bride. I might have suggested something a bit more original. But I won’t.
And we awoke this morning to find clear evidence that a bear had destroyed one of the solar units lighting the sidewalk last night. Paw prints and other signs, so to speak, of its clumsy nocturnal invasion gave it away. What kind of a self respecting bruin would destroy a light and leave a bird feeder intact? Really disappointing. We raise our bears to be smarter than that. But the birds were happy as they enjoyed their morning snack of suet and sunflower seeds. As a matter of fact, those seeds look pretty good. I may try some on my yogurt tomorrow morning. Maybe not.