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marken
Citizen
Username: Marken
Post Number: 252
Registered: 4-2003
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 2:01 am: | 
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So we're sitting around the dinner table last night enjoying the cool breeze through the window -- me, my SO and a couple neighbors -- when we hear a squeaking, screeching sound, similar to sneakers on a basketball court.
We look out the dining room window into the very dark yard ...
... and see a black cat. This same cat (and many, many others) frequently walk through our yard and spy on our bird feeders in search of feathered targets.
Back to the cat. The cat is playing with something .... but most song birds are asleep, so it must be furry.
Sure enough, it is .... about the size of a rat .... let's get the flashlight. Ok, it's a squirrel. What's HE doing up?
Anyway, the squirrel seems on the small side, but what do I know, I don't routinely measure them. He also seems a bit stunned.
We briefly watch the cat paw at this squirrel who is now cowering in a corner against our house, just out of our line of sight.
A few minutes later, we look again, and the cat is laying down on the patio facing the corner .... apparently waiting for his "toy" to move, or do something.
We close the window and turn up the radio to drown out the sounds of whatever inevitable fate the nature gods have chosen for this rodent.
Just before going to bed, I go have one last look. This time, I walk outside w/the flashlight and hear the leaves rustling. Oh great. NOW what's over there?
I see the squirrel crouched low, squeezing between the patio and the lowest shingle of our house. I think the noise in the bush was the cat.
So I get the hose and spray some water in the general direction of the noise/cat and douse the plants as well .... water alone may not be much of a deterrent, but we'll see.
I leave the squirrel on the ground, can't tell how injured he is, and figure it will all be over by the morning.
9 hours later.
8 am. I walk on the patio, sans flashlight, to the spot of last sighting. No sign of the cat. I see nothing but some leaf litter debris where the squirrel was. I take a look around the side of the house, looking for ... well, I don't know what I expect to find.
I'm about to leave, when I see bits of squirrel fur on the ground ... I guess he put up a fight. But man, that's a lot of fur. And it's all facing the same direction. I look a bit closer, a see a tail. I wonder if it will grow back, like a lizard .... but wait.
I look even closer, and notice that the fur is extending under some more leaves, and into this tiny space in the ground behind the point where the downspount goes under the patio. I didn't even know there was a gap there, but there is one -- about the size of a deck of cards.
Mr. Squirrel's tail is still attached ... and he is completely curled up and ensconsed in this small cavity, but is he alive?
I'm not about to stick my finger in there and find out.
I grab a short metal prod from the garage that we use for weed pulling and walk back to the cavity-filled-with-squirrel.
I reach down and poke him, gently. A little movement, and a wimper. He is alive. He can't stay there, but there's no way I can force him out. And if I did, then what do I do? So I give him a few gentle strokes on the head with the prod, and he just blinks at me.
Back in the house now, I seek advice from my pest guy, who says call the town, since he won't pick up an injured squirrel -- just a dead or lively one. OK. I plan to call the town at lunch.
At 11:45, I venture outside to confirm that Mr. Squirrel is still stuck.
He's gone!! Did he leave on his own? Did he get pulled out by the cat? Did he get rescued by his friends?
I'll never know.
And we never would have heard any of this, if that window were not open.
These dramas probably happen night after night, every night. Struggles to live, the cycle of life ... we just happened to catch this one episode. |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 7331
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 6:57 am: |
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You know, the kind thing would have been to put the squirrel out of its misery. It's not fun, but I've done it. Why let it suffer? |
BLOWFLY
Citizen
Username: Howardt
Post Number: 1802
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 8:05 am: |
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I hate squirrels. Kill them all. |
las
Citizen
Username: Las
Post Number: 1635
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 8:07 am: |
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Wow - great tale. (tail?) |
Lou
Citizen
Username: Flf
Post Number: 116
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 3:13 pm: |
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i love squirrels. I could never kill one.
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BLOWFLY
Citizen
Username: Howardt
Post Number: 1803
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 3:25 pm: |
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i've killed a few.... |
blackcat
Citizen
Username: Blackcat
Post Number: 572
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 3:31 pm: |
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I love squirrels. I put out peanuts so they leave the house alone..and they do! |
catmanjac
Citizen
Username: Catmanjac
Post Number: 142
Registered: 2-2004
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 3:44 pm: |
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...and if the owner of the cat kept it indoors like it should have, this never would have happened. Neither animal would have suffered in pain, nor would one have been tortured and possibly killed. The cat may have suffered battle injuries also, maybe even death. It is one thing if the fight were among wild animals-- those not domesticated and that live in the wild... quite another if a house pet is involved. |
BLOWFLY
Citizen
Username: Howardt
Post Number: 1804
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 3:53 pm: |
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Let's see, I once hit a squirrel with a shovel and it died. Another time I threw a piece of slate at one, and it died, too. |
musicme
Citizen
Username: Musicme
Post Number: 1653
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 4:06 pm: |
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Last year, a big wind storm knocked a squirrel nest out of a tree in the yard. Mom and Dad ran away, but little baby was alone on the ground, wailing for companionship.
What a banshee!
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blackcat
Citizen
Username: Blackcat
Post Number: 574
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Friday, April 21, 2006 - 4:57 pm: |
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I have that shirt! |
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