Wordless Wednesday: Squirrel Alert

Was that a squirrel we heard in the tree?

Moving trade-offs: New Park

Well today I explored the park across the street. My new neighborhood is like a park... full of trees. But in the actual public park there are lots of trees and a few smells to sniff. It isn't as big as the Burnt Bridge Creek Parkway which was the closest park to my old house. And it lacks ponds, rabbits, frogs and the like. I miss the creek, dipping my paws in the soothing water on a hot day and the expectation of finding a rabbit on the path.

Here I am in the park hoping to spy a few squirrels

Such is moving. I love my new house with the BIG BACKYARD but I had to give up the best park ever. So I have a little park to explore. It's one of those suburban city parks.

Here's the park and the SHORT trail.

What I found out today was that there were NO SQUIRRELS IN THE PARK! I figured out why. There are many squirrels in my yard just across the street. The lady who lives behind us feeds peanuts to the squirrels. So why live in a park? They just live close to their food source.

Here's a pile of branches from the last storm. It's worth a sniff or two.

Well, that's ok but know what they do with the peanuts? They litter my yard with the shells. And they bury some in my yard digging little holes. Of course when I find the whole peanuts, I dig them back up and EAT THEM!

So the park is different (that's a nice way of putting it). There are quite a few trees. There is a playground for small humans and a bench or two.

Here's the playground for small humans.

I love my new house and my yard but am only slowly adjusting to the teeny park in my neighborhood.

Thats all for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Love, Cinnamon

House Hunting Cinnamon Style - Rose Cottage is Out but Squirrel Streets Rule!

I won't bore you with the details about why we are not moving into Rose Cottage. It had to do with "iffy" documentation on neighborhood rules and who is responsible for paving the private street. (Hey, it wouldn't be me, Cinnamon!)

Ready for more house hunting

So we are back to looking for houses. Today we drove all around town. I really got excited. (More than excited) when we drove up and down the downtown streets. There were SQUIRRELS all over the place... on the sidewalks, in the streets and in the trees.

I think I like house-hunting there!

Cinnamon Celebrates National Squirrel Appreciation Day

This bratty animal is celebrating today.

Yes, it's real. This truly is a whole day set aside for my arch enemy, the squirrel! So I have to appreciate those pesky little beasts that come into my yard and taunt me. But I do appreciate them and here is why:

1. Squirrels keep me alert

2. Squirrels give me something to look for when I am walking by trees.

3. Squirrels plant seeds and acorns (sometimes in my potted plants).

4. Squirrels are job security for ME

5. Squirrels are better than RATS!

Here I am smelling
where the squirrel has been

So I am going to celebrate by patrolling my yard for Squirrels. And If I see one, I will chase it away.... but not until I wish it A HAPPY SQUIRREL APPRECIATION DAY!

More on National Squirrel Appreciation Day

A Great Squirrel Meme

If I see this, I will go bonkers!

Cinnamon's Probationary Evaluation: Will she be fired?

Remember, I stand watch well into the night.
I was told the squirrels had retired,
but I was still there!

I was called into the boss's office this morning. It was time for my probationary review. After spending quite a bit of time Arooooing and dashing into the backyard scaring squirrels, I was not happy with my evaluation. What do you think? Here it is:

Probationary Period Evaluation

Name: Cinnamon             
Job Title: Official Squirrel Guard

Ratings
From dawn to dusk stands at the sliding door to the backyard to be ready for squirrel raids. 
Rating 3 out of 5
Comments: Cinnamon cannot get to work until about 10 a.m. due to sleep issues. Work starts at dawn.

When such raid is in progress, bravely bounds out into the back yard to scare off the squirrels.
Rating 5 out of 5
Comments: Cinnamon does a good job bounding and scaring except when she is asleep.

Other duties as assigned.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Comments: Cinnamon says she is too overloaded to take on additional duties.

Overall Rating:  3.7 out of 5

Cinnamon is eligible to remain in employment as an Official Squirrel Guard

Areas for improvement:
- Getting to work earlier.

Signed: Squirrel Guard Employer

Employee's Comments:
I, Cinnamon, do an exemplary job. I watch the back yard well into the night. I scare the squirrels frequently. In order to do my job better, I need the following:
- Guard Shack to protect me from the elements
- iPad - so that I can continue blogging when I am on duty
- Travel Bed - to be placed in the Guard Shack for when I doze off due to exhaustion or have to get up too early. 

This Guard Shack might work for me, Cinnamon.

Signed, Cinnamon the Official Squirrel Guard

Probationary Period on My Job: Proof Positive

You all know about my new job, that of Official Squirrel Guard. You also (scroll back) probably saw the job requirements which included being on duty "dawn to dusk."

Well, I am doing a really good job. I scared squirrels no less than four times today. I was fierce. I aroooo' ed and rushed those pesky little buggers! And, they scampered away.

Here is the male squirrel who likes to taunt me!

The problem between my boss and me seems to be that I don't like to get up early in the morning. It is close to the Winter Solstice so dawn is about 7:30 a.m. I much prefer sleeping in until 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. Sure, I miss a couple of squirrel attacks on the bird feeder but... look.... I more than make up for it!

I've been told that I am in my probationary period and that I can be fired "at will" from my job. But I would propose that I am MORE THAN DOING MY JOB! Let me provide you with some evidence.

Here I am "aroooing" and scaring not only the squirrels but the neighbors.
See how I go over and above my job description?

Now the complaint of my owner is that I get up too late and she has to scare the squirrels for the first several hours in the morning. Fact be known, she is usually in the kitchen getting juice and cereal and so is in a perfect place to scare the squirrels anyway. I don't need to be bothered THAT EARLY!

So to make up for it, and go above and beyond, I stand guard at night. I look out the sliding glass window just in case a squirrel wakes up, leaves their cozy nest and heads toward my yard for a bird food snack. I work really hard by staying up late!

Proof positive that I work well past sunset!

So here's proof that I work hard and do my job well. I just adjust the hours a little! How about Flex Time for Coonies?

You can tell I am making my case just in case I am fired for not doing the job exactly as "others" think I should do it!

I guess it's time for bed. I need my 15 hour beauty sleep.

Love, Cinnamon

Official Squirrel Guard - On the job!

Here I am sounding the alarm.

I'll bet you didn't think I could be a squirrel guard AND sleep! But I think I've managed to figure out how to do my new job and avoid ruining my life.

My owner went into Portland for about three hours. As soon as the garage door shut, I ran up to my bed and hopped on my Cheetah comforter.

I took a good long snooze. I am sure "someone" would have woken me up should a squirrel have entered the yard. Don't ya think?

So after my snooze I was walking around sort of bored looking for my Nylabone when I heard the garage door open. I ran downstairs and stationed myself at the sliding glass door looking all alert.

Here I am chasing the squirrel into the woods.

My owner came in and was ever so pleased. She praised me and petted me.

In about twenty minutes I saw that pesky squirrel scrambling along the top of the fence. I sounded the alarm! Arooooooo.... Arooooo!

My owner opened the door and I ran into the yard scaring the squirrel back into the woods. JOB WELL DONE!

And then for good measure I sniffed around the bird feeder to make sure everything was ok. Well, it was.

Here I am sniffing the bird feeder.

I had done my job. The squirrel was sufficiently frightened.

Then I ran up to my desk and wrote this blog entry.

Now, I should have a nap as a reward, right?

Love, Cinnamon the workaholic

Cinnamon's New Job: I might get fired!

The bratty squirrel

It appears that blogging is not enough to keep me busy, so my owner has assigned me a NEW JOB! (And, it doesn't involve sleeping on my new bed looking beautiful).

It is winter and the birds are hungry here. So my owner has hung out a bird feeder full of nuts and seeds from the Backyard Bird Store. The food is made especially for Pacific Northwest birds. Now we still feed little Colibrita, the hummingbird, but there are now many types of birds that come to our yard.

We recently found out that SQUIRRELS like bird food too. Those chubby furry pests found the bird feeder and hang upside down to try and steal the birds' food. So that is why I have this new job....  here is my job title:

OFFICIAL SQUIRREL GUARD

Here is my job description:
From dawn to dusk stands at the sliding door to the backyard to be ready for squirrel raids.
When such raid is in progress, bravely bounds out into the back yard to scare off the squirrels.
Other duties as assigned.

Did you notice an incompatibility with my current job as Dog Blogger and my need to spend time on my NEW BED? If I am downstairs standing guard, how am I supposed to be upstairs in the office working?  And furthermore, I won't get enough sleep on MY NEW BED if I have to be ready for work as soon as the sun comes up.

I'll never get enough sleep with my new job!

Case in point. Today I got up at 10:30 a.m. and enjoyed my breakfast before checking out the squirrel activity in the back yard.

I am not sure this will work out at all!

There must be a law against dog labor... somewhere!

Don't Squirrels Hibernate?

He's saying: "Hey Dog, come and get me!"

I haven't seen squirrels out for a week or so now. I've hunted along the Burnt Bridge Creek Trail, at the Ross Dog Park and of course in my own backyard. I thought I might have scared away those pesky creatures or I thought maybe they were hibernating.

So I did a little Internet reading about squirrels and hibernation and found THIS out! Gray squirrels and their relatives: No, they don't hibernate. They build a leafy nest in a tree, and spend most of the winter trying to stay out of the wind. They come down to forage for acorns, beechnuts, etc on the forest floor, especially when the weather is calm.

So that's what's going on. They are just hunkering down during the bad weather waiting for a nice day to come out and BUG ME!

I'm saying: "I'm gonna get you!"

So yesterday, when the sun came out after the big wind storm, guess who was sitting there on MY FENCE! It was that squirrely squirrel. He was sitting there eating an acorn or something taunting me. He flicked his tail and that made me really mad.

So I ran out the sliding glass door and by the time I got to the fence, he had high-tailed it (literally) into the woods and back to his oak tree.

I could smell his stinky scent. I could hear his scratchy little nails on the bark. I HAD JUST MISSED HIM!

Well, now that I know that squirrels don't hibernate, I'll be on the lookout all over Vancouvria!

Vancouver, USA... my home which is full of squirrels, unfortunately!

WSU Vancouver: Trails, Squirrel Hunting and no Degrees for Dogs

I never know where I am going when I get in the car. Now, it seems, my owner is into taking me on those long distance walks she calls Volksmarches. And they are looooong walks. I've figured out that a walk is a volksmarch when she picks up a map at the registration point. That's when I know I'll get a good work out.

This time we headed north to a hospital at Salmon Creek. I stayed in the dark, clammy parking garage while she registered and got the map.

Then I was invited to get out of the car and come along! We took off down the sidewalk, swishing through the fall leaves. At the bridge we peered down at teeny Salmon Creek. It was waaay down there. I was happily exploring the scents and sights and looked forward to some squirrel hunting.

Here I am wondering if I was going to have to sign up for classes

This is a really good squirrel tree!

We walked way down the street and came upon a big sign... Washington State University - Vancouver. Oh no, I was going to college? Has the reading of Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words gone to her head? Now, I want to learn.... but I want to do it in a very relaxed way (you know, take naps when I want and sleep in on those foggy mornings). I really didn't want to go to college. I just wanted to hunt squirrels. And, I don't need a degree for that, do I?

I found out that there were trails on that campus, some dirt and some paved. We headed up the hill into a shady treed area. Prime squirrel hunting territory! I was happy. I tried to look up each and every tree.

Here I am sniffing around.

Then we took a dirt trail along a frisbee golf course... even better squirrel hunting trees there. Maybe I'd like college after all!

There was interesting public art on that campus and many more trees. It is a great place to walk and explore, especially on a fall day.

Once we got up the hill we saw the campus buildings and thought it looked like a great place FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO GO TO SCHOOL.

WSU is pretty nice. They put doggie clean-up bags along the trails. I noticed there weren't any dog water dishes out. But I felt relieved actually. It looked like it was not a college for dogs. This wasn't a place where I was going to have to work. This was just a wonderful place to explore and enjoy nature... and squirrels!

Nice campus but they don't offer a degree in squirrel hunting

I had a great day enjoying the autumn sunshine and learned that college campuses can also be for walking, sniffing and exploring.

And then, of course, I took a long nap!

More Information from Cinnamon
WSU Public Art Collection
Cougar Trail Map (don't worry... I didn't see any real cougars)

Cinnamon's Revenge

This is one of those bratty squirrels

The squirrels are getting really gutsy lately. I think they are preparing for winter. They hang out in the huge oak tree in the woods behind my house. Each time I go outside, I look up to see if they are in view.

But, when I'm not out in the yard, they sneak in and dig little holes in the potted plants and bury their acorns!

Sometimes when the back door is closed I watch them out the window. 

They come down the tree and take a lower branch RIGHT ONTO MY FENCE. Then they scurry along the fence (I can hear their little claw feet) until they get to MY BENCH. Then they come down into MY YARD.

Here's my bench where the squirrels tread when I am not home

They especially like it when I'm not home because they can investigate each and every pot and take their sweet time digging a little hole for their prized acorn.

You know what I do? I dig up their acorns and crack them with my teeth TAKE THAT, SQUIRREL!

Adventures in Suburbia

Today was one of those "Cinnamon Stay" days. I didn't get to go anywhere. I was stuck at home in the suburbs. Yep, I live in Vancouvria and they make fun of our town on YouTube. It's mostly Portlanders that laugh at where I live. It works for me because I am a coonhound and fit in well with gun-toting Clark County folks (well as long as all they do is tote the guns).

So, back to today. I had some amazing adventures. Of course I slept a lot but I was jolted awake by the sound of "Rocky the Flying Squirrel" leaping from branch to branch in the treetops.

Rocky is my backyard squirrel. He taunts me and then runs into the trees in the woods and climbs higher and higher. Sometimes I get a neck ache from watching him. You'll notice Rocky is part of the Vancouvria logo.

So that's Rocky. Well, then there is the daily battle of the hummingbirds. That's always interesting. 

I have two types of hummers in my yard. "Colibrita," is an Anna's Hummingbird. She's kind of small. And then there is the big meany bird... "Rufous," who is rough and chases Colibrita from the feeder. Rufous has some pretty spectacular copper red feathers. Colibrita is kind of a dull green. I always root for Colibrita, my friend. She comes back to the feeder after Rufous is out of the area. She's pretty smart.

This is Colibrita

So between Rocky the Flying Squirrel and the battle of the hummers, there is always something to watch in my yard in the suburbs.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get to go shopping at Old Navy (insider joke). Of course we go to the one at Jantzen Beach in Oregon so we don't have to pay sales tax!

Signed, Cinnamon in Vancouver, Washington