Our Furry Pal, Rocky

Visitor

Leaving Moline meant saying goodbye to our furry friend Tucker. We miss him every day. When we remodeled our Oakland terrace the other day (we moved the planters from the box on the ground to hanging racks on the outside of the railing, making room for a little table) we uncovered a hiding place for a little squirrel who likes to visit. We used to have a love/hate relationship with the squirrels in Moline. They were always jumping up on our bird feeders and slurping down all the good seeds. But since we’ve moved into an apartment and don’t have other furry companionship, the squirrel who visits is becoming a surrogate pal. I’ve decided to call him (her?) Rocky (after Rocket J. Squirrel of the Rocky and Bulwinkle Show).

We’re two stories above street level, and it looks like Rocky uses the telephone cables outside the building to get onto the railing around our terrace. It’s a bold little squirrel. Even when I opened the door to discourage him from eating directly out of the bird feeder he refused to skitter away. I was able to sit in the open doorway and snap several photos, and it seems like Rocky was pretty happy to pose.

The birds (half a dozen or so have found and are now frequent diners at our feeder) have been dropping a lot of seed onto the floor of the terrace. This gives Rocky plenty to eat, so hopefully he won’t feel inclined to jump up onto the feeder. I’d worry that he might fall off and drop 30 feet to the ground below. It would be tragic to lose him, just as we’re getting fond of him.

Since our remodeling disturbed Rocky’s old cubby hole, we’ve set up some of Justin’s ceramic art to create a couple of little hiding spots for our new friend. Hopefully he’ll feel welcome.

squirrelsquirrel squirrel

Saturday February 6, 2010 — Mark —


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