When the ice in our front yard melted it revealed the carpet of rotting grass underneath, and the tiny pink tip of a lone timid tulip plant pushed
through the peaty ground, signalling the winter is over, almost!
May be half of them survived the marauding squirrels.
We had to wage a relentless battle against the squirrels to
get those bulbs into the ground and make them (the bulbs) stay there.
The rascally rodents have a free run of our front and back yards
in the summer. When the fall approaches
they are restless, frantic, running against time to stock up food for the
winter. The squirrels watch us from a safe distance and silently mock our efforts
when we go about planting the bulbs. The
moment our backs are turned they sneak in and ferret out the bulbs from the
ground. The bandits know where to dig and are very professional about it. The routine is: dig, snatch, run. Safely ensconced in the crook of a tree, the
critters have a way of clutching the bulbs between their paws, like
a child examining a surprise gift, which is so endearingly human. But given the
circumstances we are hardly able to enjoy such display of child-like innocence
by the thieving rodents.
If even half of our tulip bulbs survived the plundering by these
rowdy elements, we will have a riot of colors when the spring gets into full
swing!
