Who's In Charge Here, Anyway?

          Sometimes I wonder who really is the boss in my garden.

          Yesterday morning when I went out to pick peppers, I was scolded severely. One of a family of scrub jays who have reportedly lived in my neighborhood for decades, thought that I needed to go back inside and leave "his" garden alone. He perched high upon a bough in the pyracantha hedge and called me all kinds of naughty bird names.

          That wasn't the first time. Usually he is complaining about my cats, who come with me when I tend my garden. He doesn't realize my little feline friends are so well fed that they are hardly interested in him and his sharp beak. They are also rather spoiled and helpless. I once offered them a leftover slab of salmon on a plate, and they wouldn't touch it until I cut it into bite-sized pieces for them.

         I do enjoy having the scrub jays about, in spite of their raucous personalities. Maybe it is simply because of their occasional flashes of brilliant blue that accent my garden.

          I don't know that there are actually any benefits to having them as garden residents. In fact, I have read that jays think nothing of pilfering if given the chance. They do consume the fruit that I can't reach at the top of my trees, but since they keep me entertained, they are welcome to that. I understand that they are particularly fond of peanuts and a former neighbor literally had the birds eating the tasty treats out of his hand.

          Maybe that is what Mr. Scrub Jay was griping about yesterday morning: I never feed him peanuts.