Rain, Rain Go Away

We are about to break a record for the most rain ever recorded in a single month - EVER! Even those of us born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and who love the rain are tired of all this rain. We just want it to stop and go away. This morning the sun is actually shining for a change, but I'm not sure how long that will last. The poor birds, I didn't even venture outside yesterday to fill the feeders. It was just plain nasty all day yesterday. Fortunately there are a couple of feeders that are still well stocked with sunflower seeds, so the birds won't go without!

Last week, I noticed that one of the squirrels has a problem eye. I cannot tell if the eye is missing or just inflamed, but it doesn't look good. I've tried looking through the binoculars at the eye, but the squirrel is rather jumpy and darts off at the slightest sound or movement. So I just can't quite see what the problem is. I have tried to get a picture, but he just won't cooperate! He is smaller than the other squirrels and I'm wondering if perhaps there was a squirrel fight and he got the short end of the deal. A friend of mine thought it might have been a raccoon that got him, but I think the damage would have been much worse if it was a raccoon.

Now yesterday, I was feeding the squirrels peanuts on the deck (because I felt sorry for them in all the rain) and I noticed that there are two other squirrels with some damage. One of them is missing a very large clump of fur at the base of his tail and the other is missing two large patches of fur on his back. Monty thinks maybe a cat might have done that kind of damage, but I'm still leaning toward the squirrel fight explanation. I'll probably never know, but awful as it is, for the time being, it helps me identify one squirrel from another! Here's a picture of the little guy with the sick eye.

• Posted at Monday, November 20, 2006 11:39 AM
• In General Category | Permalink