Squirrels and Crows

It's almost midnight and I can't get to sleep. Oh, well. Lovey is curled up at the foot of my bed, while Nedi is almost up against the pillow. Lovey is sleeping; Nedi is bathing. I walked Tessa again today, and also gave Dhisana her medications. (The reason I didn't see Dhisana yesterday was because she was once again at the vet's, having a checkup and chest X-rays.) Lynn left a note saying that Tessa had up-chucked and not touched her breakfast, so I offered her her meal both before and after we walked, but she did not want anything to do with it. Then I loved on Lilly and made much of her, since she is now the eldest cat in residence. Then I went in and loved and played with Lyra; and, finally, I loved, played with, and medicated little Dhisana. She looks and acts much better, but she still sneezes and has a little bit of a runny nose. Thank goodness Lynn took her to the vet's three weeks ago - otherwise, she wouldn't be with us.
So, the BCS championship game will pit Auburn against the Oregon Ducks. I think I'll be rooting for the Ducks. My Broncos and Redskins lost, Favre got hurt and removed from the game on the third play today, - but Troy Polamalu saved the day. I cheer for number 43 on the Steelers team, as well as for Maurkice Pouncey (a Gator last year). I also cheered this evening when Big Ben got a bloody nose from Ngata. So I was cheering for the Ravens, and for the Steelers' center and safety. It was weird. And since Troy made the big play that allowed the Steelers to win, I guess the final score was OK with me. But I was extremely delighted to see Philip Rivers and his Charger buddies lose to the Oakland Raiders! Yahoo!!
The other afternoon, I was standing and chatting with Bernie, a neighbor in Githens Acres, when she called my attention to a crow following a squirrel. It seems she's had a family of three crows visit her backyard every afternoon since August. She also has a large squirrel population, as well as other birds, as she has several bird feeders and one peanut feeder especially for the squirrels.
The squirrels will sit at the feeder and eat their fill, then they will grab a nut and go bury it for later eating - you know, the thing that squirrels have done for time out of mind. Anyway, this crow family each picks one squirrel each day and follows it on the ground at a range of three inches to two feet behind. Once the squirrel finds the right spot, digs the hole, places the peanut inside, and then covers it up, the crow walks over and eats the nut. We watched a crow follow a squirrel for 10 minutes on Friday afternoon - the squirrel wove it's way in and out of the chain link fence, down a side of the yard, and then crossed the road to plant the nut beside the Silver Lake Irrigation ditch. Of course, the crow was following right on this squirrels' tail - literally - and it very happily ate the nut. Since Bernie provides nuts for the squirrels year-round, at least these guys won't miss what the crows are feasting on once the weather gets worse!