Mary, @Jake Smith ate them growing up. I joke about being afraid to ask 'what's for dinner' when visiting his family cookouts. @Mary Stetler ,I wasn't being coy. I grew up with a city slicker who moved to the country when I was born. Jake way of life helped him to be one heck of a survivor, knows how to use all kinds of guns, he can hunt,skin animals, grown food, fix anything that needs fixing.
We only had a few black squirrels 40 years ago, and they were isolated to a few small locations. Over that time we've had more and more, until now when at least 9 out of 10 are black. For a couple of years we even had a few black squirrels with blonde tails around my yard! No idea what that was about, but I haven't seen one of those in years.
Yup. I call men like Jake 'manly men'. I tease hubby if I want something done. Aren't you one of the manly men who can...? I think there was a line in Six Days, Seven Nights (one of my favorites) "Aren't you one of those guys with SKILLS? You give them a pocket knife and a Q-tip and they go out and build you a shopping mall..."
Sadly, he seldom got to teach the kids and grandkids many of those skills, since we raised them in the city, he took on a readymade family with me and 3 kids
I always worry about the lack of drive and skill in kids now. Used to be you could call a farm kid who could hire out to stack your hay or fix your lawn tractor. You could pay them $40 and they would be happy. Of course now no one can fix cars and stuff because it is all computerized.
The people who live on the corner of our block have two big goofy puppies. The pups are mutts and at that "galloping around like idiots" stage. They occasionally dig themselves out of the fenced yard and run around the neighborhood, barking and being a friendly nuisance. They have "the zoomies" like only puppies can. Yesterday I noticed them in the yard across the street, tossing something into the air and grabbing it again. I stood at the window trying to figure out exactly what they were playing with; they ran across several yards tossing the object high into the air and running to get it. Much to my surprise, one pup tossed the object and it hit the ground and took off running. It was a squirrel! The squirrel ran under a wood fence and the two pups ran after it but couldn't get through the narrow gap. They stood there barking and scratching at the fence but the squirrel was long gone. I hope he wasn't hurt, but then on the other hand, one less squirrel digging in my flower beds would be a plus.
Yeah, we have so darned many they are firmly in the "varmint" category here. But I know some idjit must be feeding them. You can practically walk right up to them and stuff them into a sack.
Our next door neighbors have a squirrel feeder that they fill with peanuts in the shell. I'm forever pulling peanut plants out of my flower beds.
I know and that is sad. What in the world will they do if stores closed, which they say is a possibility with all the crazy things happening now. Jake doesn't hunt anymore ,he likes to watch them on Go Pro trail camera. But if he had to he would. I started a new thread about this squirrel and raccoon they killed. here
I wish Reagan hadn't closed the State mental hospitals. What is wrong with people? I see old farts whinging and fussing about whether to buy more dogs now that they've killed another one. Why the heck don't they save some money and send $100 a month to help starving children somewhere? They'll get a nice picture to look at and can write/receive letters. But consider the source. I'm not a fan of keeping infantilized slave animals.
I could tell that your heart's in it, but I have no idea what you just said. Old people are killing their dogs??? And if I save starving children, they'll only grow up to make more starving children for future 1st World generations to feel guilty about.
Well, call it "outliving them." One after another, sometimes multiples at a time. Cooped up in tiny apartments.
Yeh, I get it. I've thought of getting a pet, but the idea of it being locked in the house until my remains are discovered seems unfair.
May I just say , Eeww? I just saw a mouse in my house! We scared each other. So I made up some dinner for it some yummy peanut butter over poisoned mouse pellets. No more cats in my house to worry about. Not worth skinning for dinner.