God's Creatures, great and small...

I am having a small ongoing battle with one of my neighbors.

This neighbor covets my flowers and has begun eyeing a dwarf lilac tree (which I received in memory of my grandfather) with a lascivious gleam in his eye.

I have tried reasoning with this neighbor and even offered him gifts of bread, fruit and such (seeing how I'm not eating them anymore)- but no. I even offered him some of my precious macadamia nuts. He turned up his nose. He would rather munch on the roots of the gorgeous flowers that I planted - dig them up and leave them scattered about the lawn every morning.

And then there is the lilac tree that he has made several false starts toward - but has thankfully been chased away by the rabid barking of the vigilant Rolo-dog.

Squint at the picture to the right and you will see him. That little rat bas - er, the chipmunk.

*And* I found out this weekend he has friends. Four of them that dart from hole to hole - in my yard, the soy field, the space between my yard and the soy field.

They pop out at you at unexpected times. Most often, it is only worth a shriek of surprise, but if you are walking the Rolo-dog, who feels it is his duty to eat (or at least *taste*) anything that crosses his path, it can be a shriek followed by a long scream that slowly fades as the Rolo takes off after the little rat, dragging you along for the ride.

I've tried reasoning with my neighbor, but he won't listen. I hope it will be better once we have a fence put up, but I suspect he would just tunnel his way under it.Don't you dare coo: Awww...Isn't he cute?

He knows he's cute. He's counting on his cuteness to keep him out of prison. Don't fall for it. He's cunning, stealthy and evil.

Anyway, the tree is safe for now. I've planted some more flowers around it to distract him from chewing on the bark of the lilac. Of course, if he *touches* my hydrangeas - I'm letting Rolo loose and all bets will be off.