I was writing an intro first, but lately I don't like filling up more than half a screen with text without doing an LJ cut. So, for textual and photographic proof of the triumphant return of my squirrelly friend Peanut after more than a two-week absense, please click below! :)
The last time I saw Peanut was Fri., March 16, when she boundered across the landscaping to wish me good luck before I left for bingo, hosted that month by
beckerbuns mom. Okay, so Pea probably boundered excitedly over because she missed my handouts of walnuts and peanuts, but hey -- I was just glad to see her! Also, I actually won TWO gifts at that game, so maybe she DID bring me luck! ;D :) For more info about little Pea's visit and also about the game,
click here.
I last saw Twinkie the squirrel on March 25 (
this journal entry has more), and my mom just saw her on Friday, which was cool. But neither of us saw "Sweet Pea" since the 16th, and we were getting worried! :( Fortunately, she showed up TODAY (*cheer*), and I even got a couple of photos of her! They are below. First I rolled her a walnut, which she wildly pounced on, adjusted in her mouth, and ran away to bury. Then she came back to eat all the shelled peanut halves my mom and I had flung onto the ground for her. Then, we decided to roll her the FINAL PECAN in the nut bag, which we've been saving for a long time. I can't seem to find unshelled pecans anymore (just during the holidays), but that girl is definitely worth it! :) I think she might even be pregnant again!
I just want to add that I haven't seen Goober (a.k.a. "the big bossy boy") for AGES! :( It's been at least a month, I think. He did this a few times last year, and was always okay, but I'm still worried. Even though he bullies the other squirrels sometimes, and I have to reprimand him (LOL), I still miss him, even if none of the other squirrels do. I might, emphasis on MIGHT, have seen him in the jumpin' juniper tree today, about an hour after I saw Pea. I used my binoculars and I could see it was definitely neither Peanut NOR Twinkie, and the face looked somewhat like Goob's, but I'm not sure, because I wasn't downstairs to interact with him. And then he left.
Anyhoo, I snapped five photos of Pea during her afternoon visit, and here are the best three.
Here she is picking up a peanut. There's also a camphor tree leaf tickling her fluffy underside, it looks like! *giggle*
Camphors, which are glossy-leaved evergreen trees, drop a LOT of older leaves this time of year, when they get pushed off by all the new ones. The older leaves are often pink or reddish. The trees also seem to like shedding old, small twigs in spring as well.
I never get tired of looking at how they hold food in their furry little hands, and how they chew with their little mouths! (Damn, I reeeeeally need to get my pet rats, so I can sit and be mesmerized by this whenever I want! LOL)
Ah ha! I finally got another "Squddha" shot! ;D This is the term
purplesquirrel made up for a squirrel sitting like a Buddha statue. I've thought they looked like plump little Buddhas for YEARS, but never though of "Squddha" until he used it. I'm not sure but I think Peanut's nipples might be swollen again, which would indicate a pregnancy or a recent birth. Maybe she's been busy "nesting", and that's why I haven't seen her in a while?