A Visitor

Ok, I'm going to try this again. Yesterday, I wrote a whole blog entry only to have it NOT save, and then of course was gone. Frustrating.

So here is our little visitor. Our little friend named Stumpy, due to his lack of tail. We don't know what happened to him, perhaps he was even born that way. At any rate, it doesn't seem to affect his balance at all; he is just as nimble as any other squirrel I've seen.

Last year, Stumpy got bolder and bolder as we fed him peanuts, and eventually came up to the back sliding door to receive his treats, even taking them from my hand. I won't let the kids feed him by hand, as once he accidentally bit my finger (didn't make a mark or even hurt) and then I was thinking about rabies. I know, paranoid, but he might have another even more exotic disease he's ready to pass on.

So over the long cold winter we had, I wondered frequently about how he was doing. When spring came, I looked for him, and feared that he didn't make it through. But then suddenly, one day he came back, although it seemed that he didn't remember our "friendship". He would bolt when I'd open the back door.

Yesterday, however, he didn't run. I threw him a peanut, and then he came up on the deck to get another. After about four peanuts, he grew brave enough to come and get one from my hand again. Now he stands at the back door, peering into our kitchen as if to say, "Well, what have you got for me today?"

What have I started? LOL

Welcome back Stumpy.