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Look right in the center of the picture. See the sweet potato?
Nope?
I threw out a sweet potato for the hens. It keeps them occupied for a portion of the day where I can see them. They were enjoying it. The sweet potato was about nine inches long and weighed at least a pound. It had been out near the side porch for two days. Then, I went outside and it was no longer there. No problem. I opined silently that a squirrel made off with it and quickly forgot it. .
Several hours later, I was approaching the side door from the back yard. This sweet potato caught my eye...up in the tree. It is maybe twenty-feet high. That squirrel has one strong jaw. Last year, I spied an apple there, right in the same spot.
In order to take the picture I had to stand looking almost straight up, so it was difficult to be still and not sway, plus the wind was very strong.
From my 120 lbs of sweet potatoes, I share with the hens. They get a whole sweet potato to work on for about a week. Since I never buy them chicken food, they eat some of my sweet potatoes. When a potato looks funky and about to spoil, hens get it. If it is moldy (rarely), I won't give it to them.
That is a hickory nut tree in which the sweet potato is perched. Behind it is an oak tree. I think you can see a bit of the neighbor's house to the left of the picture.
When summer comes, food of any kind in the yard will just draw flies, so for now, I was enjoying watching them eat a vegetable that is very good for them.
Your turn
Do wild or domesticated animals carry food around your yard or up trees?
I used to love King Vitamin cereal (forbidden as a child, eaten as an adult). Once I threw some stale leftover cereal into the yard near the bird feeder. Later I saw that someone had stuck a 'crown' or piece of my stale King Vitamin in a crack in a tree, to enjoy at a later date.
ReplyDeleteI don't think King Vitamin is sold anymore, but it doesn't matter as I have improved my palette and moved on to better things
Trish, there are actually crowns in the cereal? How funny. I haven't heard of King Vitamin in ages. I often wonder if squirrels remember where they hide all those nuts. In a crack, I wonder if someone else might steal it. The remains of the sweet potato were elsewhere in the yard. Thanks for the story.
ReplyDeleteHilarious! We havent had that problem...other than the squirrels picking strawberries off of my plants two years ago!
ReplyDeleteOh, no. I wanted to plant strawberries. Now, I will have to protect them from squirrels....sigh.
ReplyDelete