Meeting the neighbors

[wendyzski]

I was sitting in my cheap knockoff skychair on my deck with a sandwich, a beer, and a book, when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye.

There was a large and rather sleek looking squirrel standing up sniffing the new dill plant I had just potted when I got home. Then he hopped up to sniff around the rosemary next to it. I think it was then that he realized the swingy chair was actually occupied, because he froze for a second.

I never imagined a squirrel could actually try to "look innocent", but he sure did. Sort of meandered around the rosemary once, then sauntered down across the dill and casually strolled down the stairs. Nope, nothing to see here. Just a perfectly ordinarly squirrel with no designs on any of your plants. None at all. If squirrels could whistle tunelessly I think he would have.

I did manage to restrain my giggles until he was most of the way down the stairs....

Comments

[katexxxxxx.livejournal.com]

Squirrels can be so cheeky!

I used to teach in a boys school. My classroom was a 'mobile' - a temporary classroom on pylons under the trees. Quite pleasant in spring and autumn, cold hell in winter, and hot hell in summer! And it leaked when it rained! That aside... We had squirrels in the woods all round the mobiles. They were large and bold, leading a life of easy pickings on the sandwiches and other food the boys discarded all over the place. Bin-raiders to the ends of their big fluffy tails, the lot of them! One day I arrived for morning registration, and instead of lolling all over the steps up to the door, my form (year 11 by this time, so all adult sized lads of 15-16) were standing in a semicircle about 20 feet away. There was a large squirrel on the roof of the mobile, chittering crossly and lobbing twigs and acorns off the oak tree above at my lads. I looked at this bunch of 27 cowards, marched up to the steps, jerked my thumb at the squirrel, and said 'You! Off! Go climb a tree! It gave one last angry squeak and skittered up the tree... I unlocked the door, turned to the boys and said sweetly: 'There you are, my dears! Auntie has rescued you all from the killer squirrel!'

They did giggle about it.

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

When I went to Northwestern, the SCA name of the campus area was SquirrelHaven.

I've seen them around the new condo, but only out front in/near the trees. There are no trees in the back, so the only ways around are the stairs or the telephone-pole-highway, which is usually clogged by pigeons. This one strolling casually up the stairs amused me greatly.

[stealthbunny.livejournal.com]

Peeeeeaaaa...nuuuuuuutsssss

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

Hee - nope - he was checking out the nice smelly herbs, wondering what the new one was.

[jtaylor2.livejournal.com]

I think squirrels are irresistibly adorable.

They have *black* squirrels here in Vancouver, and no one quite understands why I make such a fuss over them. Where I come from, they are red...

[wendyzski.livejournal.com]

We have them all around Chicago, but this is my first spring with a new condo and I have only seen them out front in/near the trees so far. This one casually strolling up the stairs to check out my deck amused me greatly.