Bird Feeders and Dog Park

After the snow melted, I brought in the bird feeder with camera and charged the camera’s battery. It worked for three days and then stopped again. At least it got a bunch of bird videos, mostly showing cardinals, house finches, a squirrel, and a tufted titmouse. This Carolina wren appeared one time.

My other feeders have been busy too. One morning, I found that a metal pole in the yard had been knocked down. It holds a suet feeder and a finch feeder. I don’t think a squirrel could’ve pulled it over so I suspect a raccoon. I don’t think we have any bears that come through my neighborhood, although I’m not positive. 

Squirrels can definitely be a problem though. They not only consume a huge amount of birdseed, but they sometimes damage feeders. They can chew through plastic and soft woods, like bamboo. One deterrent is to spike bird food with hot pepper, although I’ve heard that some squirrels get used to it. 

I bought some seed bells that had hot pepper mixed in. Looks like the squirrel is eating it. Oh, look at the next picture. What a face! I guess he didn’t like it.

Now I feel sorry for him. I’ll put some sunflower seeds out for him to eat.

Well, I know that Charlie’s fans want to see him. Here’s a filtered photo and then I’ll show you some pictures from the dog park.

We hadn’t been to the dog park since Christmas. I couldn’t take him in the loaner car and then when I finally got my car back, I didn’t want him to chew on the seatbelts or armrests again, so we restarted car training with very short distances. Most days were really cold anyway.

Then things warmed up briefly on Thursday afternoon and Friday. The forecast was for snow and cold rain on Saturday, so I decided to see if Charlie could ride all the way to the dog park on Friday. I gave him treats on the way and we made it. Three dogs were there, and one of them barked at him so he was a little timid at first, but soon he was running with them. 

Find a little fun when you can.