Weirdo squirrel

I just had an odd squirrel encounter. I was walking home from the L, chatting to Miss Stacey on the phone as I approached a tree with a squirrel sitting by its base. No biggie, I looked at it and expected it to jump to the tree as I approached. No. Instead it just looked at me. I peeked over my shoulder as I was walking past and I noticed it walk towards me. There it was, hopping along behind me, still looking at me with its unfathomable black eyes. I stopped, incredulous. It stopped. It looked at me and did the equivalent of blinking. Then it hopped towards me again. Now, I'm generally not afraid of squirrels. My family was always pro-squirrel (that is until my parents moved to their current house where they wage an ever-present war against the fauna that surround them); we took in two baby squirrel orphans when I was a kid. (Binky II and Binky III-- the first Binky belonged to a hippie with whom my mom went to college.) But this behavior was off. Did I have a squirrel stalker? Or was this seemingly benign looking rodent waiting for a moment to attack? Before I could figure out what was going on a woman came up, walking her dog. She too had seen the weirdo squirrel following me. Her dog chased it up the tree.

Comments

[blue girl]

"My family was always pro-squirrel..."

Hee-hee.

Was it a black squirrel? I remember a guy I dated in college always telling me these big tales about these black squirrels and their crazy personalities and special powers.

Maybe it wasn't such a tall tale after all.

:)

[Bird]

Once in college I was studying in a basement study room; seated, my head was pretty much at level with the grass. One May day while preparing for my genetics final, a squirrel approached the open window. He stopped within a foot of me. We were eye to eye, when suddenly the squirrel flung himself at me!! Thankfully, the screen held and he fell to the ground, but he was cleary out for blood. I laughed out loud at the craziness of it all-- a near squirrel attack! It is one of the best things that ever happened to me-- it was just so cool! I am glad that you had a similiar positive squirrel encounter.

And p.s.-- I think it is pretty hilarious to characterize your family as "pro-squirrel"!!! :)

[Anthony]

Again, "My family was always pro-squirrel..." is brilliant and hilarious.

As for black squirrels, they were indigenous to my college (Fordham University) campus in the Bronx. Our urban campus was teeming with black squirrels. No joke. Can't vouche for any special powers, but they did have crazy personalities. I'd say they had a very strong self of entitlement... not unlike half the people at Fordham.

[Claire]

Well, we were pro-squirrel until my parents moved to the top of a wooded hill in a small town in Ohio. Now my dad goes after the squirrels with a vigor that matches his own father's enmity towards groundhogs. Don't get him started on the deer, either.

It was just a little gray squirrel, though their are a couple in the neighborhood. Apparently Kent State has a lot of black squirrels too, because I remember a friend going to journalism camp there one summer in high school. She said they were incorporated into art work all over the campus. I'm not sure if this is accurate or not, but it seemed odd. (Oregon State does this with their mascot the beaver. There are beaver insignias all over its union. VERY ODD.)

I heard tales of overly aggressive squirrels on IU's campus, but was never a target. Until possibly now...