Squirrels are my friends and I’ve rescued a number of them, even one that needed vet care with neurological damage after running into a tire of a passing car and being flung into the pavement! He lived happily for about four more years in a giant oak tree on my property until he became slower and time or previous damage left him vulnerable; then a hawk took him out! He would come right to me like some of the others did to get a peanut or let me touch their heads, while I talk to them! (I’ve featured his photo here)
I kicked myself over this Larry’s eventual demise, wondering if one day when he was clinging to the side of a tree and I spoke to him if I should have taken him in at that point as a sheltered animal in need but then I thought how a caged life wouldn’t have been a happy one even if he did love me, and I did help him to go on and live those four years which wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t intervened; he lived free then died free! That day clinging to the tree at my eye level I guess served as his thank you and goodbye because he never showed up again! But a hawk did and was up in the tree a couple of days later in the exact location where we said our goodbye! At least we were good friends for a time!
The initial stay for my injured little friend was the veterinarian wildlife rehab facility I’ve participated with for years. The ladies there named him Larry.
Very nice posting and perspective you give!
Lawrence (Larry the Squirrel) Morra III
For several weeks, I was looking for the little jokers who have populated the small park from where I have shared many original photos of over the years. [Wow. That was a long convoluted sentence. I don’t even know how to punctuate that.]
Last week, I saw a small body flattened in the road next to the park. I cringed and spoke aloud to myself. Another is gone. The park has an eerie feel. Empty of frolicking jokers, who were like my friends through literally all-kinds-of-weather. They seemed to like to pose and show off for my camera.
As it is finally spring, they would surely be running and hopping and chasing once more? Yet I have a sense of doom, as I have not seen them in the old growth trees.
Today’s walk in the sun and beauty of the blossoming trees made me all the sadder…
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Zero Lift-Off 
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