Tai Chi is my pet mama squirrel. She “chi-s” (pronounced like cheese) at me from the big oak tree by the bird feeder and chicken coop whenever I go out into the front yard.
She talks to me from the tree trunk while I do my yoga and exercises on the mat.
Her talk consists of about 12 fast “chis,” followed by a few silent seconds, and then she begins again. This continues for up to 1/2 hour at a time. She is very large and has a long bushy tail, and there is the wisdom of old age on her face as she stares at me. She has been here as long as I have and knows me. She lets me come within a foot of her while she eats the sunflower seeds and grains, all the while keeping one soft brown eye on me, while her tiny hands break open the shells. If I had more patience I”m sure she could soon be eating out of my hand.
Tai Chi has a child about half her size who scampers up and down and around the big oak trunk, playing with other squirrels who come to visit. I call her Squeaky because her chatter is high and shrill, as yet not matured. She follows her mom everywhere and is always close by.
Thumper is Tai Chi”s mate. He is nearly as large as she, with equally long fluffy tail, but younger looking in his face and more timid. Amazingly, he has a special gift: he is a virtuoso percussionist! He often sits on top of the little shed under the tree and thumps his two tiny front feet on the wood roof making the fastest “perididle” I have ever heard! He gives about 20 beats, then pauses to rest, then continues on for up to five minutes. There is no answer from any other squirrel around the forest and I have no idea what the purpose of this action could be. I suspect it is a male dominance trick, or maybe not. It would be fun to know!
And so the family lives here in my big oak, but also swings from limb to limb onto all the other trees and make daily visits to my lower garden.
There in the autumn they can gather acorns that fall, but now in the springtime they have a feast, for they seem to think I planted all these vegetables for them, since I”m the one who feeds them everyday. So they help themselves to my entire garden, much to my dismay.
I discovered that Swiss chard is their favorite vegetable, as they ate the entire row of chard down to the roots. Then they moved on to the new zucchinis, various seeds, and everything else I tried to grow, except for the row of tomatoes and the row of potatoes. Apparently they do not like those two vegetables. They also missed a few small other plants in their haste, so maybe other things will still come up. Sob.
Ahh! The wonders of nature, and all of her creatures, each of whom possesses matter and energy; hence something we call soul. Each has its own personality, and desire to live life to the fullest, just as we do. It appears that all creatures great and small love life and deserve to live it.
Carolyn Hawley is a well-known area painter, poet, actress and author. She is a resident of Nice.
