Squirrels: 11 September 2008

Rose Dickson

11 September 2008

1821 – 1845 hours

Forty yards from Montag Center on Willamette University campus, Salem, OR, USA

79 degrees, partly cloudy

            Sitting with my back upon the Matthews dormitory pillar, I realize I am the minority. I sit in awe of my companions, no students, teachers or Willamette University residents in site. I am in the new found company of a band of 8 squirrels. Each squirrel is together in alertness, yet each doing completely his/her own task. The Squirrels taking on squirrelly, scavenging and restless, tasks; tasks probable to change at any moment.

The squirrel farthest to my left has found an acorn. He drops it after a few seconds; only to immediately pick up another. Can Squirrels be picky? As a child I would refuse to eat anything but the yellow M&M’s. Could I share that annoying childish trait with a squirrel? What makes us so different? The squirrels themselves are each different too. One squirrel has a very short tail that is much bushier than the rest. Another squirrel has a long, skinny body and tail, looking almost as if the tail is only just hanging on. I wonder why all the squirrels have come to this tree? There is no squirrel feeder, no exceptional amount of acorns from any other tree. I try to get closer to the squirrels, to see how far they would let me come. Almost instantaneously they all look at me- as if I crossed the line, and they run up the tree to hide. 

Photo Courtesy of Google Images