Have you heard about “zombie squirrels”? These squirrels, suffering from squirrel fibroma virus, grow strange-looking sores all over their bodies. In most cases, they recover from the virus. Still, I feel badly for them. It looks uncomfortable, even if they are not actually zombies.
I do not feel badly for this squirrel. I saw it (him? her? I didn’t get close enough to find out) in the walnut tree. It stood there, looking overly pleased about its enormous bounty, and daring me to do something about it.
I cowered.
Our squirrels are mean. They flick their tail at the dog from high places and shriek. The dog is scared of them. I thought squirrels would be too small to be scared of, and the cartoon versions always seemed fun and friendly. Then a squirrel buzzed me as it crossed the yard, headed for the fence. Squirrels have many more sharp edges than I realized.
The one nice thing about the squirrels is that they are a source of neighborhood commiseration. People discuss live traps and less-alive BB guns. Then yesterday, my neighbor sent me this video. If we make it happen, you will see it here first!
