Last week I watched a cute little squirrel turning, twisting and chattering on the top of my split rail fence. A rabbit was sitting in the grass watching. The rabbit never moved. It just sat and watched. Its ears did twitch a time or two. The squirrel entertained for ten minutes and then a loud noise scared both the entertainer and audience away. It was unbelievably cute!

Picture books are filled with cute, smart animals that talk and say cute things. I can imagine what the squirrel said to the rabbit. The squirrel asked what the rabbit had enjoyed for breakfast (petunias) and the rabbit asked the same of the squirrel (tulip bulbs). The squirrel then asked if rabbit wanted to see his new routine. He told her a few jokes and then did his fluffy tail dance. All very cute, except they had once again eaten my flowers!

The ground hog likes my green peppers, the deer devours my lilies, Victor Vole eats bulbs and digs tunnels. The chipmunks won in the battle over my strawberry patch, so I no longer have strawberries.

My dad was a farmer and years ago when I complained about all the critters in my yard, he just smiled and said, Plant more, they need to eat too. Besides, they’ll win every time! So I plant more!