Some of you who read our Christmas newsletter may remember the anecdote about Brad’s glee when the old squirrel kicked the bucket on our front sidewalk last fall. For those who missed it, here it is:
“It was Friday [October] 13th, which developed into an ominous day indeed. In addition to the loss of [our cat] Bob, we also experienced the unusual passing of Brad’s arch-nemesis, the squirrel that lived in the trees outside our kitchen. Brad, who has had an aversion to what he calls ‘rats with fluffy tails’ ever since a particularly traumatizing incident during his childhood (long story), insists that the little rodent was taunting and glaring at us from outside the windows, conjecturing various methods to murder us in our sleep. Alas, the little old guy crawled into the middle of our front sidewalk and gave up the ghost just a few hours after Bob was moved to her final resting place. So he succeeded in exacting his final revenge by leaving his carcass on our sidewalk for disposal.”
Anyway, we think the old squirrel bequeathed his “mansion” to his offspring, who quickly moved in, did some minor remodeling to the nest, and procreated. So now there’s a whole family of squirrels living in the trees near our kitchen window.
The other day, Brad heard some commotion coming from our media room. Upon further investigation, it appears that one of the baby squirrels jumped onto the outside window ledge while Sushi (our cat) was on the inside ledge. They were separated by only a few inches and a thin pane of glass. The squirrel was fluttering his tail, making little clicking sounds, scraping the window with his hands, running side to side, etc. We aren’t sure what he was doing, but man, it sure drove Sushi nuts. The blinds and curtains were almost obliterated by Sushi’s attempt to break through the window to say “hello” to his little friend.
Today, Brad was in the kitchen when he heard banging on the kitchen window. He opened the blinds to see that the banging was actually coming from the same little squirrel again, who was now sitting on the window ledge, as though asking to see Sushi! It’s like “TV for squirrels” – he bangs on the window, and then he can watch the entertainment of all kinds of commotion coming from the animals inside.
We’re still not sure what he’s doing. He could think Sushi is his mom for all we know. Or maybe he just values the entertainment. He might be taunting Sushi, who’s a prisoner of his own home, by saying, “Ha Ha – you’re inside and I’m outside,” or “Mmm.. I’m a delectable squirrel with big fluffy tail. Don’t you just want to eat me?” But I must concede – the thought has crossed my mind that maybe Brad’s theory isn’t so ludicrous after all – maybe the squirrels really ARE hexing us. After all, how odd that this would all occur around the next Friday the 13th.
