25 November 2009

Gratitude - or attitude?

On the eve of Thanksgiving, this is for the reddish-tinted mother squirrel who comes to our back door, sits on the door handle, and peers in with those beautiful, high-powered eyes of hers until our door opens and the pecan feast is dispensed, much to her liking.
This is for the little gray female squirrel nearly torn apart last autumn by a predator, who came into my care, healed slowly with the help of a determined veterinarian, and was released into the wild this past spring.
This is for "Stevie Wonder," a squirrel born with no eyes nearly 8 years ago, who can never go back to the trees, but still thrives unaware that he is somehow different.
This is for "Snaggletooth," the adult female squirrel in our yard who was a regular visitor and lived a good life despite the huge incisor growing oddly through the front of her face.

This is for "Mister Tilty," who is rotund and off balance but can scrap run like the wind - and holds his own at back-door begging with the rest of them.
And this is for the three young squirrels in the pre-release pen outdoors who are here today only because three strangers bothered to halt their lives long enough to notice at the suffering on the ground by their feet - and decided to do something about it.

This is for all of them, and all the others. Rest assured, not a single one is grateful.
And rest assured - rest very assured - that does not matter to me in the least.

12 comments:

Jan4insight said...

What a nice post! Thank you for all that you do, and Happy Thanksgiving!

squirrelmama said...

Thank you so much Jan, you have a wonderful holiday too, and thank you for always providing good reading material for us with your blog. :-)

Kat Mortensen said...

Such wonderful sentiments, Caryn. I feel the same way about my outdoor brood with their pleading postures and their bloated bellies and their fluffy tails. I love them all and am thankful everyday for their visits to my humble yard.

Nice post and great video. (I must check and see if I have any pecans.)

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Kat

squirrelmama said...

Thank you for your good wishes, dear friend, and for reading the post and watching the video of my raging band of grays (greys). Let's pray for a gentle winter for all those four footeds we love, from the rococo to the rubenesque. :-)

island rehabber said...

A perfect post for Thanksgiving, Caryn! I am also especially thankful for the five late babies I finally soft-released on Tuesday...the final group from what, for me, was the Rehab Season From Hell. Love your blog!

squirrelmama said...

Thanks for stopping by, Maura, and for your kind comments. Congrats on the soft release - the weather has been wonderfully cooperative (for a change) and that permitted me to do something I didn't think I could do in late November, which is to move pre-release squirrels into the pen outside at this late day. HURRAH for Mother Nature and....whew....glad it's done with for now.

merinz said...

I loved reading all the histories of your charges. Soem sad stories and some heartening ones.
Does Stevie Wonder live with you?

Happy thanksgiving to you all.

squirrelmama said...

Thanks for your kind wishes.
And yes, the GOOD NEWS is that Stevie, 7 years later, lives and thrives and has a safe haven with us.
I think sometimes we are more blessed than he is! In fact I know it. :-)

Anonymous said...

Sweet, sweet post. Maybe someday my squirrel friends will get close enough to beg. Today on the tree outside my front window, I caught a glimpse of what was surely a mother-fledgling pair. It's always thrilling to watch them. (My cats think so, too, but are confined to the indoors.) Thanks for all you do. Dallas

squirrelmama said...

Always, always good to hear from you, Dallas.I do believe at some point your gray friends (or are they foxers?) will come close and beg and then, I fear, you will be held as captive as I am....feeling guilty for venturing from the house to tend to your own errands, lest you neglect their culinary needs. :-)

And a big thanks for being someone who is responsible and thoughtful to both wildlife and cats....by keeping them safely indoors. Everyone benefits from that!

chet said...

Reading each new entry to your blog is always one of the highlights of my day. You've helped make me aware of the wonders of having a goodly bunch of squirrels nearby.

(And I'm especially glad that you've shown a video of your squirrel mob.)

Anonymous said...

Gray? Foxers? Mine are brown with golden trim. Occasionally we see an albino in this region. But gray? No. Dallas