Ode to Squirrel

  (Technically this is not an ode – as an ode is a poem – but this is a tribute to my friend the squirrel.)

Let me begin by saying that I love the outdoors and that any friend of nature is a friend of mine, but sometimes the reality of it can be distressing. Last year my partner and I were at our favorite place in the world on a 7-day backpacking trip. Whenever we go outdoors we – of course – hope to get as many glimpses of wildlife as possible. We’ve been fortunate enough to spot 5 bobcats on separate occasions, all of which were relatively close (within several hundred feet). Cats, of any kind, are my favorite animals in the world. I would rather see 1 bobcat than 1,000 deer. No offense to deer or to deer lovers.

Anyway, on this particular trip we witnessed the most amazing – and disturbing – event that I have ever seen in my life thus far.

It was early morning. We woke up, ate some granola, packed our gear and started our journey out of Paradise Flat. Not more than a half-hour of hiking had passed when we noticed a squirrel ahead of us, about 100 feet away, lying down in the middle of the path that we were walking on. It was an incredibly odd sight because the squirrel was lying in such a way that his (or her) body was completely flat against the ground – it was as if he (or she) had been run over by a truck and flattened into a pancake. We immediately became concerned figuring that the squirrel was either dead or badly injured.

We slowly walked closer and closer until we were within a few feet of the squirrel. We stood there looking at it for quite some time trying to figure out if it was alive or not. We saw it move a bit and determined that it was alive, but that it must be hurt. We felt bad, but what could we do?

I started to slowly walk around the squirrel and my movements caused the squirrel to suddenly jump up and take off flying into the field beside us. I thought that was strange, but continued walking.

Not more than a second later and my partner shouted, “Oh my God a bobcat just caught the squirrel!” Being that he knows how much I love bobcats I thought that he must have been kidding. I said, “Yeah right.” But when I looked to my side sure enough, just several hundred feet away, there was a bobcat messing with the poor squirrel.

Both my partner and I stood there astonished with our mouths hanging open, our jaws nearly hitting the sandy ground.

At that moment we realized that the squirrel must have been hiding from the cat (which explains why it was so flat to the ground and motionless) and we had literally scared it into the paws of the very cat that it was trying to hide from.

Over the next 5 minutes or so the cat toyed with the poor squirrel. Clawing at it, chasing it, catching it and letting it go – over and over again. The squirrel fought back and – no lie – looked like it was boxing the cat! I must say that that poor squirrel really put up a fight for its life. It was brutal to watch and horrifying to hear as the poor squirrel screeched and cried in such a way that nearly sounded human. At one point the squirrel got free from the cat and quickly began to climb up a tree, but the cat jumped up the tree after it and pulled it back down. The whole event reminded me of the way that my housecats play with a mouse when they catch one. It must be agonizing to be the prey. It would be better (for the prey) if the cat was to make it quick and painless, but they enjoy the game of catch and chase too much to do that.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the cat made its final kill move, took the squirrel into its mouth and turned to face us. It was as if the cat had just noticed us for the first time, and perhaps it had. As it spotted us it lowered its head, acting as if it didn’t want us to see it. It wanted nothing to do with us. It seemed to want to be left alone with its breakfast. It quickly turned around and bounded off into the trees.

We both stood there shocked and amazed, unable to close our mouths for quite some time. It was very hard to carry on with the rest of the day after witnessing that.

After watching the courageous way that poor soul stood up for his/her life, I have such a newfound respect for squirrels. He/she fought until the end with everything that it had. That’s something that I admire deeply. I only wish that I hadn’t stumbled across its path, causing it to run into the hands of death, but such is life I suppose.

I will always remember you squirrel.

In memory of his/her boxing moves I have decided to name the squirrel Joe Boxer.

RIP Mr. Boxer.

You will be remembered.