The sacred squirrels of India

There is a beautiful story told in Indian mythology about brave and industrious little squirrels who mustered courage and strength to help build a bridge across the sea to save a king's beloved wife, who had been kidnapped by a monster.

Though monkeys loyal to the king immediately set to work carrying formidable rocks, the tiny squirrels could only carry pebbles, and for this they were disdained and cast aside - with one squirrel hurled, nearly to his death by one angry monkey working among the bridge-builders.

The squirrel's life was more than spared, however. Rama caught the little squirrel before any harm could come to him. And then he - and all squirrels since that time - were given a blessing by Rama, signified by the three stripes across the back - the gentle fingers of Rama's hand leaving their indelible marks.
I first learned of this story from my friend Arul, who was born in India and is there now on a fellowship, reacquainting himself with these sacred squirrels. They visit his apartment terrace, much to his delight (and theirs!) And I was reminded again of this story by fellow blogger Vineeth Sukumaran, who sent me links on the Flickr website to the beautiful photos you see here, the descendants of the blessed palm squirrels.

How fortunate that there is a place in this world that reveres these beautiful, intelligent animals - and protects them from harm.

I wish the western part of the United States could feel the same way about the squirrels' cousins, the prairie dogs, who are being poisoned and gassed daily. And I wish the United Kingdom could also rethink the way it is dealing with an admittedly problematic overpopulation of introduced greys.

I think we need more myths, and more realities born of such fine myths, to build a bridge of understanding between humans and animals often perceived as "pests" or "vermin." Perhaps can we can take our cue and our inspiration from the Indian striped squirrels, and help build that bridge ourselves, one strong pebble at a time.

Ratatosk, the messenger

Ratatosk is a minor celebrity in Norse mythology. A kind of rodent precursor to our modern e-mails and chatrooms, this tiny red squirrel is said to have carried messages (including the gossip of the day) from the top of a giant tree, back down to its sprawling roots.

The treetop recipient, according to Norse lore, was an eagle.
Down below, the story goes, was a dragon.

Today Ratatosk might employ a blog like this, skirting a modern day, electronic pathway, at speeds his Norse creators could never have envisioned.

Here you'll find no low-lying dragons or sky-scraping eagles - not even a giant, gnarled tree. There are just us sciurophiles writing, respectively, from the land of the native red squirrels on one side of the Pond and the land of the native grays (or greys, as our UK cousins like to note).

Across the Pond we scurry with word of squirrels making headlines in the news - or raising eyebrows locally - all the while advocating for a kinder demeanor toward all living creatures, and sharing in the natural whimsy and spirit these diminutive prey animals show in their daily lives.

This is a blog from us, to you.
Ratatosk, we hope, would take it as a compliment.