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Friday, June 12, 2009

New Digs for Peabody's Great, Great, Great., Great..... etc


ground squirrel in a lawn

Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away... oh wait, it only seems that long ago... we had a pet 13-lined ground squirrel. Can you find his offspring in the picture? Let me help you...

13-lined ground squirrel

"What?" You ask. "It's just a chipmunk." Well, no it's not. These critters are a little bit bigger, have a pattern of, um... 13 lines on their backs, and have skinnier tails. I'll try to get a better picture sometime this summer.

Today's excitement was the enlargement of one of the apartment houses. Not an improvement of our "lawn." But I'm sure Peabody, Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. is happier. Maggie chased him down this same hole yesterday, and almost caught him!

ground squirrel hole

I'm leaving early tomorrow morning to do a program and then a 45-mile hike. I'm scheduling posts with things around the gardens and trees while I'm gone. See you Thursday night or Friday!

See Rationalization or Reality? and a Flat-top Joke for more about the lawn

5 comments:

Rick (Ratty) said...

That's pretty cool to get to see the descendants of the first one.

Sharkbytes (TM) said...

Well, I'm just guessing you know. He was too far away for me to ask him. But... hey, how far do you think little critters like this spread their populations. That's actually an interesting question.

Now I HAVE to go to bed. Must be up in 4 hours.

betchai said...

wow off you go to another 45 mile hike, have a fun and safe hike again sharkbytes. i looked for the offspring on the ground, thanks for your help, what do you think will Maggie do when she caught the offspring?

Julia said...

The ground squirrels here are savage beasts. I am preparing for battle this week. They are making stove pipe sized pot holes along the fence line. The battle royale will begin soon. Grrrrrrr.

But your guy looks cute. LOL

Sharkbytes (TM) said...

HI betchai- Well, Maggie is a dog... she kills them. But she doesn't seem to understand what dead is in this context. She wants them to play with her, but they won't move any more after she bites them. I'm always torn between the problem of the swiss cheese lawn and loving their cuteness.

Julia- Good luck. I always have mixed feelings about pests in the lawn that are adorable. But yours are bigger right?