They purr/flutter!
Well fellas, ETipp had another first this morning.
Was down in that darn ladder stand before daylight with my crossbow. About 30 minutes after it was light enough to see, I was sitting there very still and quiet. Then I heard this purr/flutter like sound. At first I thought was the cushion I was setting on was making that sound. But I wasn't moving at all. Then the purring/fluttering sound happened again. My second thought was, it was one of those cicada bugs, you know, the sound their wings make when you step on one or pick one up. I said to myself "huh, too cool out this morning for one of those".
I was dressed in all camo, including a leafy hat with leafy face mask. There is a fairly large chestnut oak tree about 5 feet in front of my stand at about the 10 O'clock position. When that strange sound started again, I realized it was very close and slightly above me. So I slowly tilted my head upward so as to see above the brim of my hat, and there was a gray squirrel hanging on the tree, head down, only about maybe 6-7 feet away from my head. Not knowing what I was, he was checking me out. And then after he saw my head slowly move, he began his barking. And lo and behold, every time he would inhale, he would purr and/or flutter until he exhaled and barked.
like many of you, I have been very close to a blue million squirrels in my day, but never have I head one purr/flutter. I find this pretty darn neat.
Also, yesterday I went to check out another deer stand location at my other hunting grounds. As I stepped into the wood line I heard one squirrel let out a warning sound just like they make when they see a hawk. Now there may or may not have been a hawk around, but after that one let out the warning sound, there were at least 3-5 other squirrels within close distance that started barking.
All of this makes it more difficult to keep deer hunting and fight the urge to grab my Crockett and get after squirrels again. One thing is for sure, there's still plenty of squirrels around these parts.
