Spring Fever for Squirrels

Red squirrels tend to be solitary creatures, each tending his or her own territory and warning any who intrude with clucks and sputters, falsettos, tail flicking and feet stamping. Of course when mating season arrives, a little intrusion is welcomed. Yu-Ling and I witnessed such an event today. At least I think that’s what it was all about. How else do you explain not one, not two, but four red squirrels cavorting around the cabin? Chasing each other under the cabin, popping up in the woodpiles, dashing across the snow bank, up and down trees, past the window – oblivious to the cat and human - and through the wooden stoop. What a madcap frenzy. I laughed and Yu-Ling went nuts trying to keep track of the squirrels and anticipating which window they would run past next. I don’t think the Red squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus – “The Steward who sits in the shadow of his tail” – is in any danger of disappearing from around here. For that we are all grateful.

... P. L. Morningstar
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