Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go. ~William Feather, American publisher and author
The servant appeared with a bag of food.
Food that looked tempting and awfully good.
Good it was cold outside and she hurried back in.
In a flash I raced up the pole and considered my win.
When I figure out how, I’m going to have a fine meal.
Meal of seeds I’ve earned through my zeal.
Zeal for things meant for others, that’s a fact.
Fact is, they share now or later I’ll attack!
Attract birds, you thought. What a waste of time.
Time better spent penning your book or a rhyme.
Rhyme this, silly servant, and just watch me succeed.
Succeed at getting from this slick pole to your seed!
P.S. Poetic form is Chain Verse.
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
Hahaha! Lovely, Debbie – both words and pictures! The squirrel’s a star!! Thanks for providing lots of chuckles… 😀
Thanks for indulging my silliness, FF! The little bugger even “invites” his buddies to join him at the pole — he swings the seeds loose while they pig out on the ground. ‘Tis hard to get too angry at such resourcefulness!!
Ah-hah! You need the Yankee Flipper! It gives them a good little spin off. This reminds me of my years in NY. The squirrels ate everything! Crafty and persistent buggers. I bet Dallas was willing to run him/her off!
I’d never heard of the Yankee Flipper, so of course I Googled it. Hmm, sounds like kind of an expensive solution to me! It’s much easier to open the back door and sic Dallas on them — and he gets SUCH fun from that!!
I used to try and outsmart the squirrels but failed every time.
You know, John, we always think of squirrels as having itty-bitty brains, but for all our mastery of technology, medicine, etc., we don’t hold a candle to their ingenuity!
I think they do what they do to tick off the birds and humans.
You might be right. I just know I don’t have time to referee their battles!
Hilarious!
Thanks, Cindy! He (or was it she??) puts on quite a show every day!
Haha! Now, I wish I could climb that well!!
And you know, Professor, I went outside with a dollop of vegetable oil soaking on a paper towel and greased the pole real good to prevent this sort of shenanigans, but to no avail. Perhaps I should’ve used lard!!
What an absolute warrior he is!
Oh he is so cute – and such tenacity. What a delightful little visual for the truth your words were speaking.
Thanks, Barb. He (she??) really is cute, but I wish he’d stop chasing off the hungry birds. After all, my neighbor feeds squirrels ALL the time, so there’s plenty of food for them. I merely wanted to satisfy the hunger of cardinals, jays, and such.
Love this so much! Thank you for the Sunday night giggle.
Glad to bring a smile to your face, Kb! Thanks for letting me know!
*applause*
OMG….I LOVED this, Debbie! What a faaaaaabulous post (both the poem and photographs)! You know how much I adore squirrels!
And what a great quote from William Feather. It’s perfect for a squirrel. They certainly persevere, don’t they?
Thanks for the chuckles, my friend. Have a super week!
X to you and Dallas!
Ron, I actually thought of you when I took these photos, knowing how much you love squirrels! They’re the cutest, smartest little things, too — no wonder ours are so FAT!!
The directions on the bag of seed indicate it’s ideal for birds, and that’s really what I was hoping to feed. There’s so little growing at this time of year that I feel sorry for them and don’t want them going hungry. Not that I want the squirrels starving either, but like I mentioned, my neighbor keeps food out for them all the time. Perhaps these haven’t found that food — or maybe they just prefer putting on a pole dance show for me, ha!
Thanks for your lovely words — have a happy week! xo
Haha! I love that you’ve put such a common dilemma to verse! My hubby continues to get frustrated with all the squirrels that so quickly deplete the feeders. I say just give it up and concede to the fact that we are feeding the birds AND the squirrels!
We are, too! I sympathize with your hubby though. It’s hard going outside when the temp is 0 and refilling those feeders, but I just can’t bear the thought of those critters going hungry!
Forget the lard, or Crisco. It won’t do a thing. Trust me on that. I finally came to terms with the fact that squirrels’ smarts outdo even their cute, and that’s really saying something. I actually miss my little pet squirrel, although he drove me absolutely crazy sometimes. Whether he was smarter than I was, I can’t say, but there’s no question that he had reasoning ability, and was a master problem-solver: just like yours!
I’ll trust you on the Crisco, Linda, since the oil did so little good. You know, at first I hung the feeder on a low limb, but that proved disastrous — the little monsters promptly tossed it to the ground, where it broke into pieces, necessitating another trip to the store for a new one! I had no idea squirrels were so resourceful and would eagerly swing from a greased pole, just to get at this food. We used to toss out old bread, muffins, etc., but my pudgy Sheltie thinks he’s died and gone to Heaven with all those treats.
Did you take those pictures? They’re fabulous. Caught in the act. Love how you turned it into a most delightful poem. Nice!
Thanks, Monica. Yes, I took them with my smartphone…through the window, so they’re not as clear as I’d like. Nevertheless, they do convey the cleverness of this little guy(or gal!)