Meet the neighbours

I think it important that when you move to a new community, you should spend time getting to know your neighbours. So I'd like to introduce you to some of mine.


First, there's Cheeky. At a house I used to live in in Calgary, I had a resident black squirrel who was very friendly, to the point of being easily hand fed. In fact, he used to climb up my screen door to encourage me to feed him. I named him Cheeky. Turns out we have a red squirrel at our new home who actually owns the place. We have nicknamed hum Cheeky Two (or just Cheeky).

Pissed at me for some reason

He yells at us the moment we go outside, every time we go outside. There's isn't a flat surface on our property that does not have detritus from his snacking on pine cones. He hangs out in the trees around our kitchen door and windows and yells at us if we make too much noise inside. He runs up and down our fence as if it was his own private expressway. Word has it he throws things at you if you do something to piss him off (like existing on the planet, I think). KC was parked on the road under a big pine tree, and Cheeky climbed the tree and literally bombed her car with pine cones.


Next is our birds, of which we have lots. Twice since arriving we have been inundated with nuthatches, whole flocks of whom have descended on our trees, peeping and enjoying eating the insects. Yesterday, I had a close encounter with two of them. The first was exploring the edges of the shakes on the back side of our garage, then flew right past my face (less than 3" away) to check for bugs on the tree that grows in my deck. The second was doing the same on the front side of the garage while I was working outside. He landed on my workbench and looked at me, then moved to the tree 3' away and did the same, then went on his merry way looking for bugs. They're so fast it's tough to get a good picture, but here he is hanging on the front of my garage.

Hangin' on the garage

And finally, my daughter came to visit this week, and we were treated to a deer at the end of my driveway.

A 2 point with fuzzy antlers, snacking on rose hips

The space across the street is a "reserve" lot, meaning it's just a forest. I was told by some locals today that their dog flushed a grizzly bear cub out of there a few weeks ago, and three elk were irritating the dog in their back yard last weekend.


Some people complain about their neighbours. Not me. The more often I see them, the happier I am.