22 December 2008

Miracle or mishap?

Years from now, no doubt, students at the Meoncross School in the UK will still be talking about the purple squirrel.

So will their teachers.

What appears, in every other way, to be an eastern grey squirrel, has become a semi-regular at the school, and may likely even have a better attendance record than many of the pupils enrolled there. "Pete," as he has been named, showed up during one of the lessons, outside a window, and immediately stole the show from teachers with his bright purple fur.

Purple squirrels, in human-resources parlance, simply do not exist. HR professionals refer to the ideal job candidate as being a "purple squirrel" because they perfectly fit every description of the job being advertised. And as most job-seekers will tell you, that just doesn't happen in the real world. Talents abound everywhere, but no one has it all!

And now, here is Pete, perfectly fitting the description of a squirrel who has miraculously become a Rodent of a Different Color, charming faculty and students alike and, of course, distracting everyone from their lessons.

It's possible he got into some toner, chewed on a bottle of ink or.....fell into some paint. It's possible there is a reasonable explanation for this, and hopefully, for Pete's Sake, not a toxic one.

Or he could be a miracle. Do people still believe in those?

The answer will come during the spring moulting season. Stay tuned, as the fur begins to fly.

9 comments:

Cactus Jack Splash said...

How interesting, I would love to see a picture of the little guy

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

Fascinating. But how do you find all these interesting squirrel related news? Have a blessed Christmas, Squirrelmama. In line with the season, it must be a miracle...surely!

squirrelmama said...

Hi Cactus Jack, if you click on the "purple squirrel" link highlighted, you'll see the original article and the original photo. I was hesitant to reproduce it here on the blog for copyright reasons.

squirrelmama said...

LGS, not sure I believe in miracles but.....just maybe??? Maybe this tme? Hey you never know.
Oh but it is no miracle how I found the story. I use a search engine for interesting tidbits on the Squirrel News Network. The Internet is another modern miracle of sorts.
All the blessings in the New Year and in this season for you and yours!!

Kat Mortensen said...

Perhaps he's been rolling in some lavender patch. The article doesn't say if the school uniform is purple. I smell a rat! Well, not really a rat, but a mischievous student and cohorts perhaps.

Kat

Anonymous said...

Hopefully this is Miracle and not some human tampering! I hope some human did not do this to this precious, little, innocent squirrel. Please keep us posted on this situation!

squirrelmama said...

I will do my best to follow this case. I found it disturbing, not the least bit amusing, and of course you do have to wonder who would want to do something like this to begin with? My only hope is that, if this is ink of some sort, there is no toxicity that would have a lasting (or even temporary) effect.

Anonymous said...

of course it's a miracle, even if the vehicle of the miracle was indeed some discarded toner or printers ink, the fact that the squirrel survives and inspires is the important thing.

Reality is not fixed, science was wrong, E equals MC squared is not the whole truth (and never was). The Newtonian version of reality as being fixed and logical is just not the case as much as we need to cling to something solid and unchanging, the real truth, or the truth closer to the real truth is that reality is malleable, and not just malleable by random forces, it's being changed by our consciousness. Take a good look at the purple squirrel as we invented him...

squirrelmama said...

Darren, I like thinking of his survival as a miracle, and definitely like the thought that he continues to go through life despite whatever occurred to him. I think of the old movie, "The Boy With the Green Hair," which I suppose had some of those same themes about individuality and being different, and the value of it all. In this case, let us hope Pete endures and serves as an example to a lot of people that it's possible to get past some obstacles, some presumed "setbacks" and go forward. Or even, in the best of takes on the situation, celebrate one's differences! He IS a miracle.