ground squirrels..

I ran into the refuge today, which I did yesterday; Erica rides a bike, and I run. It is so amazingly peaceful here, especially in the morning, when the sun is casting a pink sheen on the mountains; which surround me as I run. With the frost coating everything, the prairie shines, and the mountains are snow capped; its incredible. I usually see a golden eagle or two, which add to the beauty of the area.
Once I reached my tower this morning, I was exhilarated, and ready for a day of watching dogs. Sadly it was not to be...today was my day for watching ground squirrels...which although they sort of look like miniature prairie dogs, they act like they're demented, and due to their constant twitching, they're always in motion. They'll go on alert (stand on their hind legs) for .2 seconds, run in panicked circles for 5, and then eat with twitchy little bites, all with their tails flitting up and down. They also are, apparently, not too smart. Who would have guessed? I had a surround set up at burrow X8, waiting for my prairie dog to pop up and decide since he couldn't get out, he might as well check out the yummy oats in the trap. Unfortunately, did he only not show, the ground squirrel did, and he wanted ooooats. Sadly for him, he couldn't grasp the concept of a closed trap door. As the open door was on the inside of the surround, and he was on the outside, he was unable to waltz right in. He was not a quitter, though, and a small thing like a nonnegotiable trap did not stop him. He tried to reach a paw through the mesh end, and when that failed, he attempted to stick his head through (I shuddered to think what would happen if he got it stuck, especially with the badger around). He was finally forced to admit defeat, and I have to hand it to him, trying so diligently for something for 25 minutes and failing the entire time is a great accomplishment for anyone, especially if you're a ground squirrel with an attention span of 6 seconds.