Animal Kingdom

Squirrels have a lot of personality. Do not mistake them for vacuous rodents like bunnies or guinea pigs (don't get mad, bunny and guinea pig owners! I don't understand fish either, so maybe the problem is mine). The problem with heavily personality-laden creatures, is that they seldom remain content with their lot. And the squirrels in Boulder Creek are some of the most discontented squirrels I've ever met.

The picture on the left is taken from our living room window - that particular squirrel is deeply offended at whoever built a house right next to its special tree, and it has begun chittering territorially at the photographer (Staci, in both cases here). Staci has clearly invaded upon its sacred lands and if she doesn't get lost, the squirrel will have to resort to something drastic... like... something! The picture on the right is just one of the furry little demons taking a pause in its scampering to survey its demesne. It wants to make sure that no one else (squirrel or otherwise) is having a go at its potential food sources.

The squirrels here are aggressive and loud, and regardless of whether or not they decide to claw out your eyes they will give you the impression that they are ready, willing, and able. Not too long ago, I wandered into my own backyard and had the audacity to inadvertently startle one that was sitting on the fence. It stared me down instead of scampering off, and started nervously making chit-chit-squee-squee noises at me to indicate that it was dead serious. I weighed my options at this point, and decided that the squirrel was more than capable of leaping onto my face from where it stood posturing and waving it's tail angrily. It was obviously trying to decide whether to spring forward and defend... it's fence sitting spot..., or leap backward onto the tree and flee. Not knowing at the time that squirrel's are masters of the fake-out, I thought I'd better make its decision a lot easier, so I backed slowly away.

I know now that if I had lunged forward, the squirrel would have most likely high-tailed it right out of the yard. But have you ever seen a squirrel's claws up close? They are designed for biting deeply into any wooden or stony substance. Why tempt fate with my bare flesh? It's not like I need to eat the squirrel to survive or anything... I have a turkey sandwich in the fridge that will do just fine. Let the squirrel think it's the master, for now. Later on, mebbe I'll catch one unawares with the pressurized hose. That'll show 'em!

And so the squirrels and the humans live in relative harmony, just so long as the squirrels get free run of the place, and the humans get to occasionally scare the bejeezus out of them for entertainment value.