Ode to Squirrel
Well, I have mentioned my squirrel acrobats quite a bit in this Karinaland River over the past two and half years. With admiration, exhilaration, and annoyance, all of it. Here finally an ode to them, now that there are less residing in my Live Oak kingdom. The other day, the young hawks started whistling, claiming their territories again. Very rarely have I tried to photograph squirrels, realizing my lack of talent and patience for it. Too easily I get mesmerized, following the little creatures’ fast movements with my naked eye, ooh-ing and aah-ing, laughing, talking back to their chatter, at times chasing them with a broom. In the past I used to complain about the hordes of endless big fat squirrels, declaring them my nemesis as they “steal” all the plums or apples before they can ripen. This habit of taking a bite and then dropping the fruit, so annoying. What a waste. At times I have fantasized about a slingshot or bb-gun to deter them, but that’s just silly talk. Nowadays, with less squirrels in our neighborhood, nature is better balanced, and I enjoy their company.
cannot detect me through my big living room window… it’s my opportunity to snatch a photo…
The kind of squirrels I grew up with in Germany were small, grey and elegant. I adored Eichhörnchen. (A German word difficult for foreigners to pronounce). A word originally not referring to oaks and horns when translated literally, but rather to the old root word for “sich heftig bewegen,” moving fiercely. Yes, they do so agilely. These days, I love our fat orange Californian squirrels, and their cute babies with thin tails, fast like lightning bolts, daring and skilled already as tiny youngsters.
Believe me, there are really two chasing each other – one of my failed attempts last year…
Many a time I have put my sensory imagination into a squirrel’s body flying high in the oaks, as they do from branch to branch, tree to tree. What fun and adventure. Balancing atop the slats of the cedar plank fence, carrying a fig or apple. Chasing a friend around the massive trunk of the cork oak. Building a big nest way up in the canopy. These are all activities I can relate to. How similar we human beings are to our animal friends, wild or domesticated. All beings on earth are prone to gathering – of course it is not “stealing,” its theirs as much as mine or yours. Building, flirting, mating, birthing, nursing, feeding. Burying seeds and acorns in the ground to later be retrieved (or become a tree). Communicating, nibbling, chasing, sharing, teaching the young. Exploring, defending, quarreling, being busy hoarding for winter and bad times. Escaping the dangers of becoming prey to hawks or owls. Ending up in a car accident. And most of all: being curious. Now this is key for me. Being curious, playful, and moving about with agility. My days and work have always been infused with those three qualities, still at age 70. While writing, a squirrel eyes me inquisitively from atop the side gate through another window. Here the reflection is not as strong as on the big Bay facing one – so I am visible from the outside. “Yeah, I am writing about you.” And off she jumps onto the roof… It’s time to write this ode, she agrees. We are companions on this planet. Yes, comrades.
And then at some point, all squirrels die, recycle back to earth, as I will too, and all of us.
About Silvana the amazing dwarf squirrel
Our friends the squirrels! I love this humanizing take on their role in the garden 🐿️💗 ive always thought theyre so cute!
ReplyDeleteToday I spent a few minutes assembling a shepherd's crook, so called because of its shape, but taller than a human and made of black metal with a prong that can be inserted in the ground as a base. Frankly, it's shoddily manufactured and may blow over in the next storm. After assembling, I coated the metal pole with vaseline, wearing garden gloves with rubberized palms, struggling to transfer the goo onto the pole, then struggling to wipe the excess off the gloves. And why? To keep the fat squirrels off the birdfeeder that now hangs from from the hook of the crook. In the past I've watched them leap and perch and hang like bats to steal a seed or two from the birds, but I may have outsmarted them. To be determined.
ReplyDeleteIf you google "squirrel obstacle course" you will get to videos like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTvS9lvRxZ8
Deletewhere a guy has put up a very sophisticated set-up of seemingly impossible tasks for the squirrels to figure out in order to get to the walnuts – it is a little over the top, the narration funny, but also shows you the full prowess as cameras are filming all the action and attempts, and how quick the squirrels are able to figure anything out, and how physically adept they are! WOW ---- truly wondrous.... so acrobatic!
In it you can also see what deterrents they use to keep the squirrels off their poles... some kind of metal spirals etc... the vaseline will wear off, and perhaps can be licked off :) as well – good luck !
Such a fun post, full of your curiosity, power of observation, empathy, and playful spirit! And the PBS video clip is a lovely extra - so great the way they learned to use the wobbly disks like trampolines helping to propel themselves over the distance. Like many a UC Berkeley employee, I was very fond of the campus' squirrels.
ReplyDelete