Garden Circus

We have a new visitor to the yard. He's quite entertaining and athletic. Can you see him on the trellis? He's a chipmunk, and he performs the most amazing feat to get to the birdfeeder.

On his first attempt, he leaped to the roof of the bird feeder but fell off.  When he scampered away unhurt, I  named him Timex. You know from the old commercials, takes a licking, but keeps on ticking?

Well, a fall from a skyscraper high bird feeder wasn't enough to deter Timex. He quickly figured out he could climb the trellis and leap to the dome shield under the birdfeeder. The dome shield that is supposed to keep squirrels, and I thought, chipmunks from shimmying up the pole to reach the birdfeeder.

From the top of the dome, Timex makes a mighty leap (a good 8 to 10 inches) to the perch. He catches the perch with his front paws and then somersaults so he's sitting on the perch where he can stuff himself to his heart's content with bird seed. When he's sated or something startles him, he makes a leap to the roses which sway under his weight where he can drop to the trellis and then shimmy down the honeysuckle vine. Maybe I should have named him Wallenda.