Twenty And Counting!

Twenty - no that's not the answer to the question about my age (the product of three difference prime numbers). And it's not the number of pounds I've lost this week - unfortunately. It's not the number of miles I walk in a day - or even in a week. And it's not even the number of doctor visits I've had this year - although it may be close. It's not the amount of money needed to fill my gas tank each week - those days are gone forever. Sometimes I think it might be my IQ, but no matter what others may think, I don't believe that it is. It's not the speed of the cars that go by our house, although I wish it were that low. It is close to the number of hymn sings that we have led at Pinebrook, but we actually surpassed that number last Fall. It's not the number of months until Penn State opens its football season, although the annual Blue White Game is on Saturday. So do you give up? Or most likely, do you even care? Well, ready or not, here is the answer. It is the number of squirrels that I have trapped and removed this winter (see my blog for March 2 to read of my battle). As I write, number 20 is outside in the cage waiting to be transported to a new home. And, actually future number 21 has been sniffing around the cage and eating my bird food. But his turn to be relocated will come soon enough. Several weeks ago we hit number 16 and then it appeared that I had finally won the battle. For weeks we didn't see a single squirrel and I filled my feeders once again. And the birds came back. But then about a week ago the nasty critters returned. But this time I learned a new trick. Before I used peanut butter on a cracker as my bait. And it did work. But now I am using pretzel sticks, since I can't eat them at present, with a wad of peanut butter. And it pulls them in very quickly - usually within an hour. And so the battle rages on. I will probably lose, but I'm not ready to quit. I have to go now and relocate number 20 and then tomorrow I'll reset the trap again for number 21. Incidentally, a few years ago I learned an important lesson - close the trap at night! One night I forgot to do that and my overnight trapping was a success. Unfortunately it wasn't a squirrel. It was a skunk. But that is another story for another day. Time to go and provide some transportation.