Nature and new friends

So we have a couple of bird feeders in the back yard -- four to be exact and if one insists on counting (like Skip does). "No more bird feeders," he said just this morning. Anyway, we enjoy watching the birds, and the girls love to help refill the feeders. We are pet-less for the first time in a long, long time, and the simple act of feeding the birds is fun for the girls.

A couple of months ago, we met a new family friend. A male cat has appeared. While I am certain it belongs to a neighbor a street over or something, he spends hours each day around our home and the homes of our immediate neighbors. He is brown and white, and therefore, we have named him "Charlie Brown". Charlie Brown is a prime example of the food chain, and he was first drawn to our neighbor's large juniper bed, probably because the mice created a winter hide-out there.

Yesterday, we came home after lunch and observed Charlie Brown chasing a chipmunk down our sidewalk. He was scampering after that thing so fast! Luckily, Charlie looked up for a second, giving the chipmunk a chance to escape.

An hour or so later, I looked out our laundry window and saw this:



We are really enjoying Charlie's visits, but I cannot condone (or facilitate) this behavior. We cannot simply move the feeders to the trees because we have friendly squirrels who treat them like an all-you-can-eat buffet (although now that I think about it, I don't think I have seen a single squirrel since Charlie discovered the feeders). Also, Charlie strikes me as the type of cat who would climb a tree for a good meal. Our bird feeding may end in the immediate future, but it is clearly for their own good.