Gracie and the Squirrel

Gracie lives for chasing anything that moves.  She doesn't really want to catch it or hurt it, she just lives for the chase.  The lizards are everywhere right now in this lovely weather and oddly there are quite a few babies.  They make a lot of noise in the leaves and boy can they fly.






There has been a gray squirrel that has been getting the asian pears out of our tree.  Last year we cut the oak limb that gave them easy access over the fence.  Now they have to go by ground, through the fence and then up the tree.  Gracie tries to prevent that, but sometimes she misses and barks herself silly.  I went out one afternoon a couple of weeks ago and that squirrel just kept right on eating its pear while Gracie was going bezerk below it.  When it saw me and I shook the limb, it just flattened itself against the pear and branch and made like it was invisible.  I got the hose and shot it with water.  It plunked to the ground and Gracie gave chase, she was surprised when she made contact with its tail as it tried to force itself through the fence.

Last week, the squirrel was at it again and Larry let Gracie out of the garden and she spent a long time barking up the oak tree.  Because that crazy squirrel was messing with Gracie.  It would run down the tree and get nose to nose with her and just hang there head down out of reach.  Then it would turn, she would get a nip on its tail and back up the tree it would go.  This went on for quite awhile.  The squirrel seemed to be playing with Gracie and Gracie could have gotten hold of it a few times but didn't.







We finally brought Gracie inside for a bit, then when we went back outside I was surprised to see the squirrel inside the garden, under one of the chairs.  It seemed to be waiting for Gracie.  She took off running, but it didn't move far, flicked its tail and just stood there.  Gracie could have put her paws on it, (I'm glad she didn't, I was afraid the squirrel would bite her), but she would dig under the squirrel trying to get it to run.  It finally ran out of the garden, but never got very far away.  It was all very strange.  The squirrel  started heading off where we wouldn't let Gracie go, so the games had to end.






On another note, the first day of Autumn was wet from the rains the day before and that morning but I had taken a picture of our maple tree.  It had one leaf that was turning color, the rest were still green.  Over the course of that day I could practically watch the chlorophyll drain from the leaves as it started to turn colors.  Every few days I've taken it's picture, it is amazing how quickly they turn and in a few weeks they'll be gone.  Tonight it was mostly red.






We have had gorgeous fall days.  We have had leisurely breakfasts out in the garden, enjoying these last days of garden dining for the year.  The birds are all very noisy and busy. Many different kinds have been making noise as they migrate south, from ducks to turkey vultures.  There have been quite a few hummingbirds passing through also, the feeder always needs more refills this time of year.  There are still a lot of flowers in the garden for them to feed on, but the locals are very territorial and don't let the visitors enjoy their visit for very long. The roses are blooming big and the bushes have gotten huge, hard to believe I will be cutting them back by two thirds in a short time.  My hydrangea and azalea are blooming too, spring blooming with fall.