Mice, check. Squirrels, check. Two cats, check. Did I mention the 20 pound skunk?

[lagilman]

Woke up at 6am. Fed cats. Checked e-mail. Looked at headlines. Chugged a half-gallon of OJ. Went back to bed.

Woke up at 8:30. Made tea. Read a little (re-reading LUCK IN THE SHADOWS). Fell back asleep, surrounded by cats.

Woke up at 10. Work ethic got me out of bed again. Drew back shades enough to determine it was indeed a gray, low-light day. Drank some more tea. Opened file. Started working. Cats still dead to the world.

10:05am. Noise behind me. I turn, and there is a small gray squirrel sitting outside my office window, looking in at me through the screen. Snub-snout, beady black eyes, very sharp claws, and a surprisingly open, not-at-all-worried-or-frantic body language. Ever see a zen squirrel? Part of his tail had been whacked off, leaving, rather than a bushy plume, a half-length nub with a wide white streak of fur across it. He put his wee claws on the screen and hung out for a while, just watching me, until Boomer strolled in from the bedroom. Both cats are now watching the window intently.

Sorry, Half-tail. I only adopt stray domesticated animals. And I don't think you'd appreciate Boomer's affections, anyway.

He was really cute, though. Even if he wasn't a proper Bronx Blackie.



(and yes, we really do have a large skunk or three living in the neighborhood -- we've sighted him/them a few times, coming home late at night. Also, neighbor down the hall says she sees raccoons all the time when she leaves for work at oh god early. Well, if the economy collapses at least we'll have food for a while....)

Comments

[egret17.livejournal.com]

You'll have to share your favorite recipe for skunk...

[lagilman]

"First, hold your nose...."

[otterdance.livejournal.com]

Word of caution. Never throw a surprise party for a skunk.

Squirrels!

[kriz1818.livejournal.com]

We have a regular visiting squirrel. Or possibly squirrels; they all look alike.

It will come up to the window and scratch its little claws on the screen. And our cat has been seen to try to go *through* the closed window to get it ...

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

I was awakened this morning by a circus in the backyard: a visiting flock of birds I'm guessing by size, color and NOIZE to be grackles, and two *very* pissed off resident squirrels, all yammering at each other while picking at whatever was on the ground back there.

Ah, autumn.

[lagilman]

I so very much don't miss the grackles. Here I only have a pair of mouthy bluejays (is that redundant?) who like to bitchfest outside my window (yeah, my office window really is the water cooler for the neighborhood wildlife).

menagerie

[(Anonymous)]

We're reclaimed Florida swampland here, so we've got armadillos, deer, wild boar, wild turkeys, and we had to sign a "gator clause" when we had the house built. Yep. We had to read how to avoid a charging gator (by running in a zigzag pattern) and acknowledge that the threat existed. Still, I love this little town.

Lisa Iriarte

Re: menagerie

[lagilman]

Gators would give me pause, I admit. They're like land-sharks, not even cute when they're little.

Growing up in the 'burbs of NJ, we had Brazen Raccoons®, occasional black bears. and endless white-tail deer, plus rabbits and at least one flock of wild turkeys (no, not our politicians -- they were domesticated turkeys). All very run of the mill...

Having a half-grown golden eagle show up on the roof of the house next door was an experience, though. The rabbit population dropped, after that.

[handlebar605.livejournal.com]

when I leave for work at 11:30pm I have to be careful to miss the rabbits. The squirrels are out during the day. Across the street, they had an osterich until it got hit by a car. They still have their miniature pony (it looked like a big overweight collie, butwith a horses head)

[allaboutm-e.livejournal.com]

Heh -- Zen squirrel. Now there's a concept!

[arouraleona.livejournal.com]

Well my Arkansas native mom grew up on squirrel and is particularly fond of squirrel brains. I'm sure she'd share the recipe when the world economy collapses to the point that we need to hunt squirrel for our suppers!