Faith came over on Sunday, ostensibly to finish a bench she has been making in my workshop. Maddie and I delayed her entry into the shop – Maddie with some oooh-oooh-oooh-Faith-is-here-Faith-came-to-see-me time and me with two heavy desks located in the basement family room and a dumpster in the driveway. Maddie was mad at me, because when we were schlepping stuff up and out, Maddie had to be in her crate. So, when we were done filling that dumpster, Faith agreed to take Maddie out with the clear and present expectation that sitting would be required.
They were only gone a few seconds when my phone rang:
“Can you please bring some peanuts out here…”
Faith managed to capture the encounter with Sammy on video. For any of you who have wondered whether Sammy and Maddie really have a friendly relationship, Faith’s video (below the gallery) should suffice as evidence. The best part is at the end, when Maddie points at Sammy as if to alert us to an intruder.
The photos, offered as additional proof, were taken earlier, after Maddie and I returned from our walk and a few minutes after Faith’s encounter when we sat with Maddie, Sammy and his merry band of neighbors. I think they were trying to decide how many peanuts I had brought to Faith’s rescue.
This post is part of Linda G. Hill’s fun weekly series One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner, I’d encourage you to join in on the fun. You can follow this link participate and to see the one-liners from the other participants.
I have never seen a squirrel get that close to a dog without some sort of repercussions for the squirrel. That is quite the relationship and chunky Sammy doesn’t hold back much for the peanuts. You and the Editor have him spoiled…maybe Santa will bring all of you a 50 lb. bag of peanuts for the winter so that Faith never has to make an emergency peanut call again.
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We hold on tight when Maddie is up, but when she’s in her cot, there isn’t even any tension on the leash. At one point, Sammy put if paws/hands up on the rail of the cot!
Neither Sammy or his friends seem to be in danger of starvation, or being blown away by a stiff wind. The editor says we might have to delay my retirement to fund the nuthouse (not happening).
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Sammy is one brave and well-fed squirrel!
You could always have a Kickstarter campaign for The Antion Nuthouse.
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Ha ha – I can see the forklift coming up the driveway :)
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Sammy sure is a fat one and seems to know that Maddie can’t reach him! Staying just outside her reach, he taunts her – in that video anyway.
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I think Sammy just wants the nuts. It’s like he understands that Maddie brings us out, where he can put the arm on us. Faith was working hard to keep Maddie from giving chase. It’s much harder when Maddie is up. On her cot, she couldn’t seem to care less about Sammy.
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So sweet. I just love Sammy and Maddie. And Faith! It’s so difficult to envision Maddie being hyper from all those mellow moments with the squirrels only inches away! Will we get to see Faith’s bench project?
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I’ll have to check on the bench, Cheryl. I always give Faith the option to post on her blog. Maddie just chills outside on that cot. I think an army of squirrels could invade the yard. Thanks for the comment.
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That’s it then. She is now Mellow Maddie to me. I need to check out Faith’s blog sometime.
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She’s been very busy for a long time. But I still give her first dibs on her projects,
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You’re a great Dad.
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Love the video, but equally love the captions of your photos. It’s fascinating to see the the interactions between the two species.
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Thanks Mike. When Maddie is on her cot, she really tends to ignore the little guys. We work to toss the nuts away from the cot, but they keep coming back. Eventually, we give them a shelled nut (which they take to the next or to bury) and the stay away.
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I have lots of squirrel activity in my front yard without any effort on my part. They seem to like to dig a lot in the areas where I put down a lot of topsoil earlier in the year.
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That was adorable!
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Thanks Pam!
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One of my favorite posts Dan. Love Sammy and Maddie’s relationship!
Those mussels looked so good too 😋.
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Thanks Val. These guys each have their mission. Sammy wants to be fed. Maddie wants to sit and chill.
The mussels are very good. No grit, white wine sauce and a hefty portion.
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I laughed out loud at the photo of Sammy trying to squeeze underneath the fence. A few more walnuts and he’ll have trouble hauling his belly up a tree 🤣
Watching the video and the way Sammy was walking back and forth in front of Maddie made me think that he was actually blocking Faith’s path until she paid the peanut toll. He’s the worst kind of criminal … using charm to extort his peanut tax 😉
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Thanks Joanne. We were laughing like crazy when they would squeeze under that gate. Sammy isn’t even the biggest one. The one sitting on the trash bin is quite a bit heavier, and we don’t feed it often. That one only shows up in the back yard. Sammy is the one that will come around and knock on the front door.
We keep small bags of nuts near Maddie’s leash, and my wife and I find them in almost every jacket we wear around the yard. Sammy is getting very bold. We worry that he might think all dogs are like Maddie – that would be a problem.
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I suspect Sammy is smarter than that 🙂
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Oh my goodness, Dan, that is SO adorable! So those two are friends! I bet Faith was holding her breath taking this video. LOL This video just proves we ALL can be friends, despite our differences. LOVED this post!!! You put a huge smile on my face! 🤗
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I’m glad you enjoyed this Amy. I work to get Sammy out of the way while walking Maddie in the yard. But, I guess if you don’t have the peanut bag, you might as well take pictures.
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Great post!! The video of Maddie and Sammy is just too cute. I get that Maddie is on a leash, but nevertheless, that she isn’t straining against that leash trying to get to Sammy is incredible!! Good girl Maddie!
Faith is brave indeed putting her hand within biting distance of Sammy. Maybe he’s so used to you and the Editor spoiling him with peanuts he’s elated to have another human serve him his dinner. He is the chunkiest squirrel I’ve ever seen! Lol.
You can’t make this stuff up! 😄 —-Ginger—-
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Thanks Ginger. We joke about what it will be like if we have to explain why we have rabbis. Maddie wasn’t pulling on the leash, but we keep it tight when she’s walking. Sammy scares me when he comes back toward us, within the range of the leash and us with no way to really stop Maddie.
On the cot, Maddie doesn’t seem to care at all. Sammy actually had is front paw on the edge of the cot at one point. We were in too much of a hurry to throw a nut into the yard, for fear that he’d jump up on the cot.
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Love this adorable post, complete with not only pictures but that video! A nice read to start the day!
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Thanks. The little guy is too cute.
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Love it, Dan. Thanks for including the photos. The orcs in Mordor monitor video big time, no matter whether it’s a legitimate break. Thanks for the midweek smiles. Hugs!
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Thanks Teagan. We’ve never had the chance to get the two of them in a video (because we always have nuts).
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We had mussels last night. Aldi has the best deal on them and we have them often. Sammy’s quite daring, but I agree that there might have been a bit of taunting involved and without the leash, the story/video would have been quite different, I think. :-)
janet
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I love mussels! Yum.
We’ve had squirrels that taunted our other dogs by running along the fence, but Maddie only rarely chases them, even when off the leash. Actually, she likes being on the leash for her “business trips” – we were trying to get her to go out alone last night (it was raining) and she would have none of it.
I think/hope the squirrels would give Maddie a wide berth if she was off-leash – unless they think she’s got a bag of peanuts.
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Dan–this is so darn cute. You know, I picture Sammy talking just like the GEICO gecko. Definitely with an accent.
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Ha ha – Now I will be thinking about that when I see him, Lois. I do imagine he’s saying stuff to us, particularly the first time we see him and I imagine he thinks he’s starving (although his belly doesn’t support that argument).
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Dan – your squirrels seem so calm. Are you a family of squirrel whispers ? the ones here are very skittish. Amazing how Maddie sits so calmly watching the squirrel too !
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The ones we encounter on our walks in the park are skittish, John. These guys grew up here. Sammy was actually orphaned when his mother was hit by a car in front of our house. That’s when my wife started feeding him.
Maddie sits and watched the world go by. We have pictures of her watching bunnies, chipmunks, birds and all these guys. Just don’t let a cat enter the yard. She goes nuts at that point and she’s almost impossible to hold.
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Those two do seem to get along well.
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They do, Frank. Actually, there’s 5 or 6 squirrels. Most aren’t as bold as Sammy, but Maddie doesn’t care about any of them.
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My cats could take a lesson from Sammy and Maddi.
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Our cats are probably jealous of Sammy. Maddie will periodically chase them around the house. Cats that get into our yard are chased at high speed.
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Did I read right? Your squirrels call you on the phone? My hubby will be so jealous. His haven’t achieved that level of sophistication.
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Ha ha – no, but I don’t leave my phone out there, they might send my wife a text message with that peanut emoji.
Faith called after Sammy stopped her for his peanut toll.
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Cute video. The squirrel is thinking “ok you are on that leash so I can move about and scratch close by.”
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Thanks. Yeah, they seem to know what they can get away with.
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I’m thinking Maddie must think Sammy is an outdoor small cat of some sort. I have never seen anything like that video. Thanks for the chuckle. :-)
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I’m glad you liked this. The problem is, she’s more likely to chase our indoor cats, and she goes nuts if a cat gets in our yard or the neighbor’s yard.
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One day you’ll come outside and Sammy will be chilling with Maddie on the cot. Personally, I’ll pass on the peanuts, but those tots and mussels look awfully good.
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Oh my, those tots were so good. Nice and firm but with a serious kick.
I fear that one day I’ll be in Maddie’s cot and Maddie and Sammy will be inside on my couch. Thanks!
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That is so sweet! She’s almost like, Hey come back here, lil gray fluff!
I can’t relate, obviously. My love for squirrels is not okay with Sadie, not at all, and vice versa. But you’re lucky :)
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Thanks. They are fun to watch. We worry that the squirrels will think all dogs are like Maddie and run up to a Sadie, and…
But they’ve gotten demanding as the weather turns cold. Then again, there were very few acorns this year and way less of the Maple seeds, so they are struggling to find food.
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WOW! Sammy trusts Maddie so much he turned his back on her! Man, he gets close to her. That wouldn’t happen with Diva Dog.
I love that Faith likes to use your tools, and gadgets. :)
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Thanks! He really does seem to trust Maddie. We still get nervous that Sammy will do something that will startle her.
Faith enjoyed using the leave blower. It was hard to get her to stop 🙂
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Poor Maddie didn’t like Sammy in her garden, did she? Keeper of The Garden.
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Good observation. I think that might be because Maddie isn’t allowed in the garden. I think she was pointing as if to say: “hye, I’m not allowed in there, why does he get to go in?”
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This is so precious! That is one chunky squirrel. I love when they hold their hands over their chest like that.
I rehabbed and hand fed many a squirrel. We often wonder if the ones that come really close like yours is one that was hand fed
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Sammy is one of two siblings that were orphaned when their mother was run over near our house. My wife made it her mission to make sure they got food. They seemed to be doing well early, fixing the nest and stuff like that, but they never stopped coming for a little extra attention. We do see him gathering stuff in the yard. He does know how to be a squirrel but he also knows his meal ticket 😏
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That’s an awesome story! Your wife and I are kindred spirits then. He is a bright little fella coming back where the food source is!
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It was so sad seeing the two of them. But we managed to keep them fed and happy.
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Inspiring truly
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It’s good to know there are others who understand.
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For 8 years I worked in wildlife rehab with bunnies and squirrels and tortoises and everything in between. I loved every moment of it. Feeding the little birds was my favorite I think and holding them in my hand when they were ready to fly away and just to release them was just …well no words really
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Aw. That must have been very rewarding. I can only imagine.
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Aww, Maddie is a very good dog! Such a sweetheart with no yanking on her leash and just looking at Sammy!
The mussles would be right up my Dad’s alley, Dan. The BBQ tater tots look extra yummy. 😋 I like it you had Faith with you, right?
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She is very patient with the squirrels and bunnies. She goes nuts if there’s a ct around though.
Yes, I treated Faith to dinner after she spent the day helping me.
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Awww… love the video of Maddie and Sammy. Did you get much snow yesterday? We have about six inches, maybe a little more. Very pretty!
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Thanks! I think we had about six inches, but it ended with a bit of freezing rain that compressed everything into a very heavy and crunchy mix. It was a very pretty start to the day, though.
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It’s adorable that Sammy knows how close he can get to the dog. And he taunts poor Maddie. I love Irish Setters. Reminds me of the book series, Big Red.
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He’s actually put his front feet on the edge of her cot. She hasn’t gone after him yet. If he were running in the yard and she were loose, I think it would be a problem. I think her dog-brain would take over. And, he’s getting too fat to squeeze through the fence ;-)
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