A Slippery Slope.

Nothing of any significance today, just a bit of bemusement.

I've worked hard to keep our backyard creature-friendly; there's lots of ground cover, and only the barest minimum of lawn care (e.g. weed and feed) on the half of the yard nearest the house. The other half I mostly leave to itself. And we have no domestic predator, that is, no dog or cat. So we have the rabbits I've mentioned before (they annoy me by eating down the hostas), and a plentiful resident supply of chipmunks and ground squirrels. And of course the "real" squirrels, who bound through the yard once in awhile. A hawk who sometimes settles into the small tree near the house, no doubt helping to keep the munks in check.

I have two bird feeders, homemade wooden platform feeder in which I put sunflower seeds, and a plastic tube feeder, which I fill only with safflower seeds, because squirrels don't like them. They hang from separate, black, iron shepherd's hooks, beyond jumping distance from the cherry tree. Ideally, it's a little world of trickle-down economy: the birds eat the seeds, but not carefully, so the chipmunks, rabbits and squirrels clean up the fallen food. The squirrels do find a way to get at the sunflower seeds in the spring and fall, but other times they pretty much leave it alone. And I can sit in the screened porch, and write, and glance out at my little Eden.

Problem is, the chipmunks and ground squirrels do like safflower seeds, and have discovered how easy it is to shimmy up the shepherd's hook and chew away the plastic tube to get at the safflower seeds. They also vacuum up the sunflower seeds from the platform feeder.

Not playing the game by my rules.

I tried to keep the chipmunks at bay by opening the back door when I see them on the feeders, causing them to jump down and run away. But that's a rather ineffective, time-consuming (wife would say time-wasting) and ultimately futile effort. They lurk in the ground cover till I go back in, then resume their nefarious ways. Even I know I have better things to be doing. But it annoys me.

Anyway, yesterday, after the chipmunks brazenly and continually broke the rules, I decided I'd had enough. There are no baffles that fit around these thin poles, and if there were it would mean spending more on the project than it is worth. Electrifying the poles would be costly and cruel, possibly dangerous. So I went to the hardware store and bought a small jar of commercial lubricating grease, which I smeared on both poles.

And . . . . this morning I have had the distinct pleasure and great amusement of watching the chipmunks look up the pole and begin to shinny up, only to slip and slip, then slide back down and slink away in confusion.

Makes me happy. Now if I could only figure out a nonlethal way to protect the hostas from the bunnies.