Saturday, June 09, 2007

the Masked Bandit

It looks like I owe an apology to the squirrels. Yes, the squirrels. For 2 or 3 weeks I've been angry with the furry little fellows for knocking my finch feeder off the deck rails and devouring all the seeds. I just couldn't figure out how the little varmints could climb on top of the overhead beams and knock the feeder off the nail. I moved it to a tree hook that is S shaped and I thought there was no way they could "lift" it off the severely curved bottom hook, only to find it in the morning on the ground (I must tell you that the thought of the squirrels winning this battle got me out of bed a couple of times much earlier than normal :0) No luck with that one...i just found the feeder on the ground under the bushes...empty. My next attempt was to put a nail in the original beam and bend it over the feeder's hanger and then nail the side of the head of the nail into the wood. Of course that would mean that every time I added seeds I would need a hammer and a stool to do so. But that would be OK as long as I win the war with the squirrel (some of you can identify with this personality trait I' m sure). Any luck ? Not so. Last night, while enjoying the Cardinal game on TV (well, at least the first 5 innings) I heard the feeder hit the deck....believe it or not there are some times I can move like Spiderman and that was one of them....my hope was to catch the squirrel in the act and get him with my mighty BB gun...(that's another story in itself, but yes, I do shoot squirrels with my BB gun). Lo and behold there was no squirrel...but a raccoon. It was hilarious....he came up to the door and looked at me and then went back to the seed covered deck floor as if I had put the stuff there just for him!!!! Yes I did open the door and fire off a couple of shots with my trusted arsenal and managed to keep him at bay for a little while, but this morning there was no sign of any seed left on the deck. What is a finch lover expected to do? Bring the feeder in at night? My poor little yellow friends are being deprived of nourishment at the hands of a masked bandit!

Is there a lesson in all of this? Certainly. Know with what or whom you are in battle with. Without the right armor and weapons your attempt is futile. When you are battling the enemy use the tools of the victor. The tools are described in Ephesians 6:10 and the enemy is identified in Eph 6:12. A war has been declared and a victory proclaimed!

...there beneath the blue suburban skies...