More Conflict

     The other day I was weeding near the huge tree in my yard where I had recently hung a feeder.

      I noticed a magpie and red squirrel in the tree. They were both very quiet which is odd.  This is very different for red squirrels who chatter constantly. Magpies chatter constantly. This caused me to take a second look. The two were eying each other very closely. The squirrel would move a small distance and the magpie would shift. I thought something pretty exciting could happen very quickly.

     Finally the squirrel got behind a large limb and went higher in the tree. The magpie remained. I guess the magpie thought that the silly little beggar would have to come down sooner or later.

     All of a sudden two squirrels were chasing each other. The second squirrel must have been in the upper branches of the tree. Here's were the excitement took place. The two squirrels chased each other around the trunk. They screeched  and yelled at each other. They were trying to keep the trunk in between each other.

    Finally, one squirrel left the tree and ran across the yard. First squirrel said, "Aha, I sure fixed him!" The magpie was still sitting on his perch and probably thought "Well, that was very interesting." I thought it was interesting and exciting too.

    How about you? Have you seen some territorial disputes?

Photo by Angela-Cormier MacLean




Photo by Duke Fraser