Chipmunks, Squirrels!

Our little chipmunk has us well trained. Forget his twice-daily tributes and he is appalled at our lack of consideration. No way to treat a valued neighbour. His courtesy calls to trip our faulty memories (s'what happens with the elderly...) trigger an immediate sense of guilt and we rush to ask forgiveness of the little creature. One does that by dispensing larger than usual amounts of peanuts for his delectation. Once again, this morning, he was out, dashing about the deck with sturdy determination to infuse us with guilt.

And it works amazingly well. Out shot my husband with the peanuts in one hand, camera in the other. He, at least, thought to take the photographs I had yesterday lamented not having thought to take. I, standing on the deck, awaiting the chipmunk's next appearance, as he made his way out from under the garden shed, and my husband, standing just a short way off, camera at the ready, both to observe as that stern and adorable creature made his grand entrance.

Deigning, for our great pleasure, to partake of the nuts prepared particularly for him. And he did the very same thing once again, at dinnertime. This time nuts had been placed out in their appointed spot, but it would appear that the other occasional denizens of our garden had occasioned upon them. It isn't just the chipmunk who has accustomed himself (or herself, as the case may be) to our largess, but red squirrels and black squirrels as well. We tend to prefer the red squirrels to the black and the grey.

And it is red squirrels in particular that seem to greet us, stand about patiently awaiting our passing, when we go out for our daily ravine walks, leaving our tributes to their ownership of the natural spaces we make recreational use of, in tree hollows, crotches of trees, bridge rails, and atop tree stumps, where they're invariably discovered and consumed. And because we have done this for so long, and have established a route and a recognition of precisely where we have left them before, they too recognize the route and the cache-places.

It's interesting to note that in England there is an eradication program being conducted, an very unhappy one, far as we're concerned. Black and grey squirrels were introduced to England, the natural species there is the little red squirrel. And although we identify red squirrels here in North America as seeming to be more assured and territorially-aggressive than the black and grey, the opposite appears to be the reality in England. With the result that there are fewer red squirrels now, and far greater numbers of the black and grey.

The British - including Prince Charles, who appears to be leading the move to eradicate the interlopers - are determined to restore the ascendancy of the red squirrels. And they are using pest exterminators to trap and dispatch the unwanted black squirrels. Some food markets are now featuring squirrel meat, and it appears that many people are beginning to respond, with a newfound taste for the delicacies. The very thought of which makes us squirm with discomfort.

Making us also wonder whether the European Union and the European animal rights activists have noticed this eradication program. They have wrought great damage with their condemnations and their trade embargoes on Canadian seal meat, why not British squirrels, poor little things.