Invading squirrels

This photo is in honor of the dog who I had the opportunity to save today. The border collie, sans tags, was chasing a cyclist next to a busy road with cars whizzing by, missing him by inches. The cyclist helped me put the dog in my car, and I drove to houses nearby asking if anyone knew him. Someone did! What a great feeling.
I also had a slight bit of excitement with my dog, K. Last night, I noticed a raised bump on K's face. Uh oh, I thought, she's got a tick despite her Preventic collar, and the allergic reaction is starting. However, I couldn't find a tick. This morning, I did find it, almost dead, but lightly attached to her. It seemed like the collar did its job, preventing a full tick bite and the ensuing full-fledged allergic reaction that K has had in the past.

I can't imagine how she could have picked up a tick. Can you?
Her face looked as beautiful as ever while we mountain biked this morning - no signs of swelling or hives. More than anything, I noticed her eyes. Look how they glowed as she gazed at me.
As we rode, we passed a nest hole in an aspen tree that has traditionally been occupied by breeding woodpeckers. Imagine my surprise to see a squirrel head protruding from it. I think that a furry mother has taken over the feathered parents' home.
That made me look carefully at nest hole usually used by Flickers about a mile away. A male peered out at me. I hope that no squirrels come calling!
When we did our early spring cleaning of the nest boxes on our property, we discovered that an enterprising squirrel had broken into half of them. He'd used the same technique every time, chewing the roof and side wall to create a hole big enough to squeeze through.
So far, no birds have adopted the repaired boxes as their homes. I hope that they do soon! We'll protect them from those mean squirrels.

For some reason, I was unable to leave comments on any Blogger blogs today... but I did come around to visit!