Still Around

I saw one of the junior California Ground Squirrels under the bird feeder this afternoon, vacuuming up birdseed as fast as he could.  This is the first one we've seen for several days.  This one looked more wary than they have in the past, stopping to raise his head every couple of bites to look around and scan the surroundings for threats to his well being.  They've been pretty bold in the past, even letting us get within about ten feet of them while they're sucking up our expensive bird seed, so this is different behavior.

Eventually this one jumped up on the garden wall and sat there munching the seed he had stored in his cheeks, keeping a sharp lookout while he did.

Then he decided he wanted some veggies with his cereal.  He dashed into the driveway and started climbing over the plastic fencing around the tomato, but apparently either thought better of it or heard a noise that frightened him, so he quickly beat a hasty retreat.

We still don't know why suddenly there are so few of them around, whether it's the presence of the Gray Fox poop under the feeder or whether they've grown to the point where Big Mama finally kicked them out of the nest, but now we know there's at least one still around who remembers where the tomatoes are and how to get to them.