When I first bought this house, the back yard was not enclosed.  It was full of old fruit trees, bushes, and unwanted tulips.  It was also covered in deer droppings.  At that time, my back yard was on the scenic causeway for local ungulates.  And, since I lived adjacent to a university, it was also a pathway from street-parking out front of my house to campus.  Non-ungulates hoofing it to class in the morning.

Constructing my cedar fence rerouted both the deer and the young adult human populations.  It did not, however, restrict everything nature had to offer.  I dedicated much of a chapter in the book to magpies, or Holstein Pheasants, as we call them.  They were persistent interlopers.  Mice and ants also provided large invasive armies, and each required thoughtful defensive strategies as they could be anything from annoying to destructive.  And as you guessed from the title of this post, the last backyard legion was made of squirrels, who still dominate the tree canopy and power lines to this day.

I put up with all these critters for years and let them have their share of the dog food.  That is, until Legacy – a.k.a. L’acy; my tanky Nika x Magnus daughter – decided that she had had enough.  Being a supportive dog parent, I joined forces with her and designed strategies to eliminate the threats L’acy left for me.  Together, with help from a transient Screech Owl we did a pretty good job.  You will need to read the book to find out how awesome L’acy was at playing her role, but suffice it to say, magpies still scare their baby birds to sleep at night with tales of the great killer Tibetan Mastiff known as – Nika’s Legacy for Magnus.

The pivotal battleground was located in the big garden shed I built and named Fort Nika – pictured above.  Over time, it became home for every invading army and as a result, stood as L’acy’s Killing Fields.  By moving the food source and employing a few other strategies, Fort Nika was quickly depopulated; and shortly after that, the fort was cleaned, and a new floor and loft were installed.  More recently, however, I have noticed a great deal of evidence suggesting squirrel activity has returned to my shed.

I found that out for sure the other day.  I stepped into Fort Nika to retrieve my tall ladder when the entire shed exploded around me.  I was in the center of a squirrel vortex.  They raced in circles around me until they got close enough to a hole in the snow they created at floor level near the shed door.  Out they went and took the storm with them.  It required a few minutes; however, for my heart to stop racing.  L’acy, unfortunately, is no longer here to help me wage war in the back yard, and the squirrels aren’t really that much of a problem, but order needs to be restored.  Perhaps a new puppy might be enough to spread a wave of fear among the unruly hordes.  Stay tuned.