THE ELEPHANT TALKS TO GOD by Dale Estey

The Elephant has his own way to handle trees.

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Paperback

It is a new year, so I don't know if Mr. Squirrel is more feisty because of the fact. This morning he was making his presence known as I prepared coffee. I have kept to a noon feeding of peanuts for my stay in Bedford because 'that's the way it was'. But, there he was, chattering away, so I decided to toss a few in his direction. He is certainly not shy (he came up on the deck yesterday) and usually stays put as I toss a peanut in his direction. he picks it up and scurries away with it, usually digging away and depositing it for future use. Mr. Squirrel is not going to starve. He will also usually pause to eat one or two peanuts as given. I was content to dispense a peanut at a time while the coffee brewed.

Standing on the deck to toss peanuts keeps the crows at bay until I leave (usually). However the blue jays are a different matter. They not only zip past but will dive in to perch on the deck railing. Also, this earlier than usual time was chickadee time at the feeders. They fluttered by and perched with a gentle commotion, nibbling in a far more genteel manner than other fowl or rodent.

As I said, Mr. Squirrel was more feisty than usual with his gymnastics in the trees. He even perched from a nearby branch (more a twig, actually) and berated me. Maybe I was confusing his routine. However, he also had it in for the blue jays. It is true one blue jay dared take a peanut. he flew to an imposing height on a far tree and was ready to dine. Mr. Squirrel raced across the ground to a tree and was nearly to the top in under ten seconds. He lept from that tree to another, then leapt to the tree where the blue jay was attempting to eat. he raced up that tree and the blue jay scurried away to another tree. Mr. Squirrel was not content with that and followed, making a wide and high leap impressive even in squirrel standards. The blue jay flew to parts unknown. Mr. Squirrel wished him a noisy good bye.  

(photo)

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