(INTO THE WOODS AND BEYOND!)
We had four inches of snow the other day! We’ve had a lot of rain, but not much snow up until now, so it was a very pretty change of pace.
The snow may have made it easier for the squirrels to get to the feeder, I know it had to be softer than walking on the rock hard clumps of dirt. No matter what the reason, I was glad to see this one and today we had TWO!!
Someone came for just a bit this morning. It was a VERY short visit, it saw me and ZOOM, the squirrel ran back to the woods.
I promise I did nothing to discourage it from spending time outside the window. I may have to put on a squirrel costume in order to reassure the poor thing that squirrels are welcome here.
In my official capacity as a judge of squirrel jumping, I’ve seen many jumps and I would give this leap very high marks. I would like to see the front legs a little straighter, but other judges consider this acceptable so I’ll let it slide.
I did want to address the minor violation…accessories are not allowed in jumping contests and the peanut falls into that category. However… this was such an audacious bit of flair that I added a point.
I’m not terribly happy about the bias I see regarding Barbie the doll and squirrels.
First of all, Barbie isn’t real and yet there are chairs made for her…kitchen sets, beds, briefcases, purses, earrings, clothes, cars, bikes, shoes, houses, you see what I’m getting at.
There is a huge market that the folks fixated on Barbie are ignoring, which leaves a HUUGGE opportunity for someone who wants to make a fortune in the squirrel market.
Squirrels are REAL and they could actually use furniture. They can bend their knees to pedal those bikes they make for Barbie.I’m sure with just a few lessons they could drive a car. Look at the poor squirrel in the picture above, I’m sure it would be so happy to have a sofa to lounge on.
A lot of muscular squirrels could start a moving company, some squirrels seem kind of scrawny and I don’t think they’d have the strength to get a chair or a piano up into a tree.
So there’s my pitch for better living for squirrels. They’re more than just a pretty face and long legs.
I spent almost three weeks in Florida recently and obviously, I spent part of that time hoping to run into a squirrel. I decided to take a drive/walk one afternoon to see if the eagles had returned to their previous nest and just as I entered the nature area, I spotted a squirrel!
I went into full squirrel spotter stealth mode…slowly, slowly I approached the unsuspecting squirrel by way of the boardwalk…I crouched down to make myself appear smaller….I was almost on the ground by the time I was close enough for a decent shot.
Reaching my most advantageous location, I settled in and got comfortable. I was surprised to realize that all of my caution may have been for naught. Herds of bicyclists pedaled happily past, except for those who would stop to try to pick me up off the ground.Reassuring them that I didn’t need water, a granola bar, a bandaid or the name of a good psychiatrist took up a fair amount of time but the squirrel hadn’t budged an inch when I was finally able to put my camera back up to my eye.
Imagine my surprise when a SECOND squirrel made an appearance! Firing away with my camera I soon had enough images to last a lifetime. Bidding the squirrels a fond farewell, I made my way back to my car, brushed the leaves and sand off of myself and sped off into the four o’clock sun.
