I've decided to name my garden. It's a no-brainer, especially in Fall, when the squirrels start running amok. Yesterday afternoon, I caught a squirrel sitting on a chair at the patio table having a snack. Then there are the peanuts and peanut shells I find in the garden. My neighbor puts the peanuts out for the little rats. The squirrels gnaw on the fence posts and steal the shredded leaves from the leaf-mould pile for their nests. I can't even say anything against the squirrels, as the children have named them!
There's Beggar, the fox squirrel, who got that name by having the nerve to come onto the step by the patio door and beg for food. (As if that would ever work with me.) Beggar is easy to spot - it's the biggest, fattest squirrel around. Then there's Crabapple the gray squirrel, and Cherry the fox squirrel.
The squirrels also take a nip at my plants sometimes, but deer and rabbit repellent stops that, but the worst thing about the squirrels is that they dig up everything I plant. They like the easy to dig soil that surrounds newly planted things. So, if I want to get anything established in the garden, this is what I have to do:
Welcome to Squirrelhaven.
(The photo of the squirrel was taken a few years ago. I don't have any current pictures of squirrels in the garden because they've learned to run away when they see me come out.)