Pepper got a booboo!
It all started by showing some authority power to Randy and his friends, the squirrels that invited themselves over for sunflower seeds.
That’s right, they didn’t come without invitation, I was the one who installed the bird feeder and filled it purposely with a mixture – of grains- that included sunflower seeds to make sure squirrels can feed from it too. -Pepper doesn’t know this part and I would like to keep it this way-
The beginning and the end of the story are pretty much accurate. The middle part however, is kind of my understanding/interpretation of the interactions between Pepper, birds, and squirrels .
Randy, the very first squirrel that discovered the thing, shared the news with most of his friends and they gradually exceeded their time share of the bird feeder to the point that even birds had to wait for squirrels to leave before they can eat.
Pepper who didn’t mind birds flying in and out and making noises, couldn’t stand the presence of squirrels and made sure they understand how she feels about them.
All the chases failed tho as Randy and friends were quick and well skilled in climbing tree branches to reach to a safe zone and wagging their tales for Pepper from up there which made her even angrier. And poor Pepper was left on the ground pretending like climbing the wall while all she was doing was scratching the wall with her claws and barking furiously.
One afternoon, after another chase and run, Pepper came inside looking very nervous and anxiously started walking around my leg. I felt something is wrong but couldn’t tell what exactly, until I found the trace of blood on the ground. I found the source of bleeding to be on her paws but couldn’t see where exactly it’s coming from. I rushed her to clinic and after examination I was told that her dew claw’s toe was broken and it torn the skin around it.
She got a bandaid, a pedicure, and hopefully a lesson to not to scratch a wall that she can’t climb.
And I learned my lesson too; this house either belongs to Pepper or the squirrels not both. I decided to cut the sunflower seeds from the bird feeder.