This past Saturday, Feb. 11, was an interesting morning here at the Patch Ranch. It was about 7:45 a.m. when I noticed something at the edge of the woods. I watched a deer come out into the field. This isn’t unusual. Wait it gets better.
Soon four more deer followed. They have wintered well and looked very healthy. No wonder, it’s been a mild winter. I watched as they walked through the snow. There is a crust, but being warm it didn’t fully support their weight. They would take a step or two, and break through the crust. I think most of us have experienced this.
They came down to within 25 feet of my back door. There are a few bare spots where they pawed around looking for something to eat. I have a very large forsythia bush. It shoots up suckers 15 feet tall.
The last heavy wet snow we had doubled the forsythia branches over, their tips buried in the snow. The deer munched on forsythia buds for some time.
I have a small vegetable garden. All winter long I have taken potato peelings, banana peels, egg shells, coffee grounds, and such, and spread them over the garden as compost. I had a large butternut squash go bad so I chopped it up and threw it on the garden. Occasionally there are chicken bones. I enjoy watching the crows and ravens argue over bones. They don’t eat the veggie scraps.
Two deer wandered up to the garden. I watched as they ate some of the scraps. They seemed to like the squash.
The squirrel
I spend a lot of time home. Sometimes my car doesn’t leave my yard for three or more days. Last month I opened the trunk to discover a small pile of chewed up paper. I must have a mouse living in the car, I thought.
Later this same Saturday morning I was looking out my upstairs front window when I noticed a blur. It came over the snowbank and ran under the car. I didn’t get a great look, but knew it was a red squirrel. What struck me was it had a white tail.
I watched for 15 minutes for the squirrel to come out from under the car. He didn’t, so I got my car key and pushed the door lock button. Soon I noticed he was sitting on top of my left front tire. Yup, a red squirrel with a white tail. He would not come out from under the car, so I started it and blew the horn. Still I didn’t see him.
I don’t think this is his permanent residence. Instead it may be a weekend getaway. Then it occurred to me if I drove off with him in the car he could appear. Can you imagine driving 50 miles per hour and having this hitchhiker jumping around inside the car. Those sharp claws as he ran over your head and face would be painful. I did go out on business a couple hours later. However, I was a little nervous, but he didn’t appear.
I don’t know why this squirrel has a white tail. Could he be a cross with a gray squirrel? I don’t know if that’s biologically possible. I know a true albino deer is all white. I know someone who recently had a white deer hanging around. It was mostly white but it had brown splotches, so not an albino. Instead it was referred to as a piebald deer.
To be clear this red squirrel is not albino. I think it’s correct to say it’s a piebald squirrel. Some readers may not believe this, but I know what I saw.
Last week I wrote about Harry Chapman and “Pigs is pigs.” In that article I mentioned I would like to have known Chapman. He would have found this interesting.
I will try to take his picture. The best way of course would be with a game camera. My game camera died of old age and I have yet to replace it.
I apologize for the quality of the deer photo. It was overcast and spitting snow when I took the photo through my bathroom window. The fifth deer is partially visible at extreme right.
This week’s old saying: “Winning beats second place.”