UPDATE: I posed the question asking what others thought these might be. Thanks to blog reader, Cindy, she let me know these are ground squirrels. Sure enough! I did a search on Google to confirm this and that is what they are. Kind of like prairie dogs which I have been known to want to stay and watch all day long when visiting a zoo. 🙂
Just as the sun is about midpoint in the day — around 4 pm — this is when the little rascals come out to forage for food. Evidence of them living in our yard is the many different “highways” they’ve got going through our lawn.
Their underground tunnel is just a few inches from the gulley, kind of like a deep valley really, where trees and vegetation grow in abundance. This provides a safe haven for protection and for good eatin’. Their residence is about twelve feet from our deck so they’ve provided much entertainment for John and me.
They are about six feet from the raised bed garden and so far, knock on wood, they’ve not tried to get into it. When I watered yesterday I took my Canon camera with a zoom lens to see if I could get a photo of them and captured the photo above.
It really is quite comical how they watch me water the garden and I watch them as they watch me. I’m often giggling to myself as they take turns popping up through the vegetation and standing on their tiny back feet. I believe there are about six of them and I do believe they are young ones.
So I call them rascals cause I’m not exactly sure what they are. They aren’t chipmunks, but perhaps are moles? If anyone knows, please do let me know.
Since putting up wren nesting houses two years ago we’ve not had a problem with these little rascals digging in the potted plants on the deck. Who knew wrens would be great guard birds for that? They are very protective of their nests so by default they chase away the chipmunks and squirrels when they come onto the deck.
They’ve provided endless hours of smiles and laughter, so I was glad to have gotten this picture to share with you. Hoping it brings you a smile too. Happy Independence Day!
XO
Barb
