It's S.A.D.!

Yes, it is S.A.D., but that doesn't mean what you think it means. 

No, what it is is Squirrel Appreciation Day!  That's right - the bushy-tailed ones now have a day all of their own on which we can pay tribute and give them all the glory that is due them.

Now, how did I ever fail to notice such an important event?

Lucky me, I have two species of squirrels in my yard to appreciate.


There's the fox squirrel with its reddish brown fur. It is the largest of the native tree squirrels in North America and is resident throughout most of the eastern United States and ranges as far west as Colorado.


Then there is the smaller and somewhat cuter gray squirrel. with its eponymous gray fur and a white or very light gray belly. Both types are squirrels are very agile, but the gray squirrel is almost unbelievably so. I have seen them perform leaps and contortions that I would scarcely have thought possible. They are the ones that give fits to people who feed birds in their yards because of their ability to defeat "squirrel-proof" feeders. It is possible to exclude them with baffles though. I've done so with my feeders and the squirrels content themselves with feeding on the ground or visiting their own designated feeder.

Yes, I know some people consider them pests and when introduced into areas of the world where they are not native, they can become invasive species and create difficulties for native wildlife. But in my yard, they are in their native element and they fit in with the other wildlife residing here. Moreover, they provide endless entertainment for wildlife watchers like myself. I do appreciate squirrels - today and every day. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rude people

I spent some time in a doctor's office waiting room today waiting for my husband. During much of my hour-and-a-half there, the room was very crowded with strangers. I had brought my Kindle and was trying to read Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. It's a novel of manners about the way people treat each other and about their expectations of each other. It reminds me somewhat of Alexander McCall Smith's Isabel Dalhousie series. It has the same gentle, meandering feel to it. Anyway, I was trying to concentrate on my book, but at some point, it just became impossible. On the opposite side of the room from me several rather elderly - that is to say older than me - people were seated, and, as always seems to happen in these circumstances, one of them, a woman, had a loud and abrasive voice and manner and she insisted on telling the others her life story and especially her medical history. A couple of other people there entered eagerly into the spirit of the...
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Citizen of Dark Times by Kim Stafford

This poem is from a collection of poetry written by Oregon poet Kim Stafford after the presidential election of 2016. It was his effort, he said in an interview, to find the "flavor of unity" in divisive times. It seems particularly appropriate at the moment. Citizen of Dark Times by Kim Stafford Agenda in a time of fear: Be not afraid. When things go wrong, do right. Set out by the half-light of the seeker. For the well-lit problem begins to heal. Learn tropism toward the difficult. We have not arrived to explain, but to sing. Young idealism ripens into an ethical life. Prune back regret to let faith grow. When you hit rock bottom, dig farther down. Grief is the seed of singing, shame the seed of song. Keep seeing what you are not saying. Plunder your reticence. Songbird guards a twig, its only weapon a song.
Read more

My new Kindle

I love books. I love the feel of books, the smell of books, the heft of books, the look of books - their perfect symmetry. I am, as the phrase goes, an "avid reader." I've always got at least one book going and several waiting on my "to be read" shelf, so I consume a lot of books in a year's time. I am a fairly eclectric reader, although my favorite genre is mysteries, and specifically, historical mysteries, but I read a lot of other stuff as well, both fiction and nonfiction. My devotion to the printed page has been unwavering and I've never even considered getting an ebook reader. Until earlier this year. I got a Kindle for my husband, the technogeek, for his birthday, and after watching him use it and seeing his enthusiasm for it, I decided that maybe I should try it, even though I'm decidedly NOT a technogeek. I did try it and I was hooked. So, Santa, that jolly old elf, knowing that I had been seduced by the Kindle, stuffed my Christmas sto...
Read more