In article . net,
"g" wrote:

Katra,

Sometimes I wish so many cherished experiences in life had
not come my way, because I live in dread that somebody is
not going to believe me, after they've heard several.

I know the feeling. :-)


In my neighborhood, we have the best neighbors in the world.
(Prior to moving here over thirty-five years ago, we had some
of the worst.) But I know them all. And NONE of them feeds
squirrels by hand. To feed them by hand is to invite them to
eat through the fascia boards of your house and take up residence
in your attic, and the damage they do there is DISASTROUS !

I don't do that in my yard, and the dogs are good about keeping them
away from the house. But, some public parks have tame squirrels and it's
pretty neat. I just wish the little beasts were not so destructive! They
have damaged my greenhouse screen doors. :-P


My backyard getaway (computerized private music studio for
composing, arranging, recording, enjoying email, etc.) is also
a hideaway among green, growing things.

One day, then the coffee mug bottomed out, I opened the door
to go up to the house for a refill and spotted a young squirrel
on a pine tree across the yard. We made eye contact. Seriously,
eye contact. I froze, just to enjoy the moment, hoping he/she
would go to the birdbath nearby, but he (let that gender suffice)
just kept looking me right in the eyes, as he came down the pine
and hopped toward me. (Most take off like a scalded dog.) He
came right up to me -- much to my astonishment -- and I knelt
down. He was within two feet and just stood there with his
head cocked to one side, as if to say, "What's your name?"

I held my right hand out, palm-up, closed all but the index finger
and reached forward. He put out his left front foot and put his
paw on top of the end of my finger. It felt cool.

I wonder if it was a local rehab? That happens! One of my close friends
in Austin one day was at one of the parks there, and a baby racoon came
running out of nowhere, sat on her shoe and wrapped it's paws around her
ankle and started crying......

She brought it to us and we took it to WRI in Boerne. They have since
relocated to Kendalia. Great wildlife rescue group!


I have seen squirrels beg for food, and have fed them, in parks
and such, where they have been fed enough to do that and NEVER
have I had one extend only one foot... and only then just to take
a nut, or whatever between both paws.

My impulse was to pet the squirrel -- even to pick it up as one
would a puppy or a kitten -- but I didn't want to frighten him.
After maybe half a minute, face-to-face, I decided to go on to
the house. As I stood and walked away, that little guy just stood
there as if to say, "Are you just going to leave me here?"

There is nothing bizarre about this story other than the fact it
was just so unlike a squirrel to behave this way.

Being unable to discern one squirrel from another, I don't know
if I've seen this particular one again, or not. But no further
incident of this kind has occurred. Normally when I go into
the yard, any squirrels there will scamper up a tree, or even run
from tree to tree, to put distance between us.

Ditto here.


That one time -- whatever brought it about, or whatever it meant
to the squirrel -- is one of the cherished little moments of my life.
You and your mocking bird seem to have a more long-term
relationship. Good for you...

g

:-)
I adore my mockers! There is one pair that comes back here every year
and harrasses my dogs, and nests in the hackberry in the driveway.

When the babies are ready to leave the nest, we lock up the dogs to
protect them until they learn to fly. If I mess with them, the parent
birds fly at me and whap me in the back of the head! It's liked getting
bapped with a feather duster. No harm done, it's just disconcerting!





--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

There is no need to change the world. All we have to do is toilet train the world and we'll never have to change it again. -- Swami Beyondanada

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