It was a rare 64 degree day in February and we were determined to take advantage of the nice weather by sitting outside in the yard. After all, it's not common that you can spend any time at all outdoors in Chicago during the heart of winter. Phil was putzing in the garage on his new dirt bike project while Maiden and I lounged and just enjoyed nature. All was well until a squirrel joined the party.
Our next door neighbors yard is very overgrown and has become quite a playground for the vermin. Most people love squirrels, but I have some different thoughts about the pesky animals. My pup Maiden agrees. So as we sat, Maiden spied a squirrel walking along the fence. According to my dog, this is unacceptable, so she ran toward the fence and lunged toward the fluffy tail dangling into our yard. Luckily, for the squirrel, she missed and he jumped to safety into one of the trees. Maiden was not going to give up that easy though. She sat quietly facing the squirrel and glared up into the tree, right at the little guy. The squirrel apparently didn't like that, so he began to squawk at her, and moved closer to the fence, just to taunt her. Maiden barked and jumped determined to get to the tree rat.
At this point, I was tired of listening to the dog barking and decided I would come to her aide. I stood next to my dog and yelled loudly, using my teacher voice of course, to try to scare the squirrel away. He just stared. I took a step closer and started clapping loudly. I knew that my teacher clap can quiet a gym full of students, so of course it would do a number on this squirrel. He again stared, unafraid. Now I was starting to get mad and question my abilities.
I looked around and found a small stick on the ground. I thought, if I just toss this in the general direction, that will surely scare him. I picked up the stick and threw it (not hard...) and it just missed him. He didn't move a muscle and continued to stare. I called Maiden and told her to come sit by me since there is something obviously wrong with this incredibly brave squirrel.
We sat in the driveway and I lost sight of the squirrel. I continued reading my book when Maiden once again spotted him, but on the fence directly behind me, staring. As I looked in his eyes, I knew that he was not at all intimidated by me, so I said, "That's it, I'm out."
I packed up my chair and retreated to the house.
This war has just begun....
This is hilarious. I need to tweet this one and tag one of our teachers...
ReplyDeleteTag away! I might start a blog to just talk about the wildlife around my house. :)
DeleteHaha. You remind me of my husband. We had squirrels build a nest in the tree in front of our house. Those squirrels were loud and scary! My husband tried the stick throwing, and the squirrel actually hissed at him! Needless to say when the tree had to come down last year because its roots were breaking up our driveway, my husband felt victorious!
ReplyDeleteIf I could cut down their playground, I would. There's a bunch of them that are constantly messing with us. Ugh.
DeleteWhat a cute ending. I'm glad you are not giving up! The squirrel doesn't have rabies does it? So bold!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, this is a common occurrence in my yard, as well. My dog reacts similarly. And the squirrels just look down from on high and chirp at us, like we're the ones with the problem!
ReplyDeleteFun story! I look forward to hearing about future battles with that bold little squirrel. :-) ~JudyK
ReplyDelete