My Friend, the Squirrel

My friend Guido over at the Savage Farmer has a poetic heart. If you love nature and good prose, try his posts. In one post he talks about feeling safe and warm while listening to the "sweet susurration of rainsong." I looked susurration up at webster.com - that's a new one on me. It means a whispering sound, a murmur, which is exactly what rain sounds like.

Guido loves wildlife - so do I. From his farm in Oregon he watches eagles flying overhead. From my cubicle in Silicon Valley, I watch squirrels. Okay, squirrels are not as impressive as eagles. However, my squirrels are pretty interesting anyway.

I first realized this when, one day while approaching the front door of the office building, a red squirrel ran up to my feet. He sat there right in front of me looking up. I was impressed. He wasn't afraid of me at all. I quickly surmised that people had been feeding him and so he did not fear humans.

I brought some peanuts to work, shelled and unsalted, and went looking for my squirrel friend. He scampered up to me and I handed him a peanut. He took it right out of my fingers and began chewing on it. I decided to give him another, so I walked around the complex to give him time to finish it. When I saw him again, he was chasing some Chinese guy down the walkway. The guy was looking over his shoulder at the pursuing squirrel and laughing nervously. I think the squirrel mistook him for me and was insisting on another peanut.

I threw another peanut to him and he let the Chinese guy depart in peace.

Now I ususally have a few peanuts in my pocket in case we meet on the pathways around the complex. Damn, he's cute. The squirrel, not the Chinese guy.