Squirrel Behavior and one more "Tail" of a Squirrel Crossing the Road

Why did the chicken cross the road? To show squirrels it can be done.
     Squirrels. We love to hate them. We hand raise them. We feed them. We try to NOT feed them. We brake for them. Sometimes we brake ON them.
     This week, I witnessed something I've never before seen. 
     I was driving down a road running parallel to our local bicycle path, an asphalt trail separated from the road by about four feet of green belt.
     Suddenly, a squirrel bounded across the road in front of me. It was far enough ahead that it was never in danger. In a flash, it got to the greenbelt. With its distinctive, uncomfortable-looking squirrel walk, it crossed the grass. Then it suddenly bounded across the asphalt of the bike path. At that point, I drove past it.
     I immediately reported my awe to my family. They were appropriately mildly interested. Actually, my husband and I were still discussing the philosophical implications the next day.
     That squirrel manifested a life-saving trepidation of road surfaces. This particular squirrel will never become road pizza. Should it find a mate of similar temperament, its offspring will probably be as road-savvy. This grey creature wasn't particularly fast, but it demonstrated learning capacity.
     That learning capacity stunned me. I wanted to cheer for this smart little creature. Then I ventured into existential questions of the rights of the fittest to survive vs. the need for aberrations to be eliminated. Don't we all want our squirrels to be dumb? Don't we want them to be indecisive in the center of the road so we can't blame ourselves for splattering them? If squirrels like this clever one should be allowed to procreate, what is to stop them from unionizing, from forming thug groups and carjacking us?

     When I was a child, we used to see plenty of red squirrels. By the time I went to college, they had vanished. I haven't seen a live red squirrel since.
     I have decided. That shining example of intelligence is best left to live. Not that its life was ever really in question. I hope it finds a mate and has lots of baby squirrels. Will that intelligence "skip a generation"? 
     I hope it doesn't.

critter under the porch and bees

   Snow came overnight. This morning, when I looked out, I saw animal tracks. These tracks go from under my front "porch,"  or rather a concrete but hollow step just under my door, out and around my car and then back to the step. The loop closed with the second set of footprints directly over the first. This is the second time in a month that I have seen the tracks.
   During the summer, I noticed bumble bees had taken up residence under the same step. Normally I don't mind bees; live and let live and all that. If you don't bother them, they usually don't bother you. In the case of bumble bees, however, I am extra cautious. Several years ago, a hive of extremely aggressive bees nested in my parents' yard. I'm talking predators. Mom, a great observer of animal behavior, said they had a couple sentinel like bees that swooped around their territory continuously while the other bees did their foraging. Dad was showing me their home area and disturbed them. Those bees chased us 150 feet into the house. Psycho avengers. Afterward, I realized it was an amazing adrenaline rush. I managed to not get stung. Dad, well, I don't know.
   I was so fascinated by their aggression that I called the UVM extension service, the UVM entomology department (they had been very helpful to me in identifying a pine sawyer and showed me frozen Asian longhorn beetles) and Vermont's entomology department. I got the most help from the Vermont state person. Apparently that year there were reports of aggressive bees. He said that they should die off over the winter. There was really nothing else to do, short of extermination. So Mom and Dad avoided them as much as possible. The only problem was the bees lived next to the clothesline. But Mom has a way with animals. Then again, if she got stung, I don't know that she would tell me. Good Vermont stoicism in action.
   Hence, I the bug lover, am cautious around bumble bee nests. You don't see the nest, but you see them going in and out of the ground. My advice: if you see them, DON'T STOMP. And please don't whack the waste bucket you put over the nest.
   Regarding my summer bumble bees, I wonder if my porch critter made a meal of the bees, or if they are unrelated.
   The tracks themselves are of a pacing nature, not hopping. I know squirrel and rabbit tracks: these are neither. These aren't the single file footprints in footprints of a cat. The track itself is about 1.5 - 2 inches across, slightly rectangular. The steps are less than six inches apart. They look like paws. I don't think they are raccoon looking; perhaps a skunk? The hind foot is similar to the front foot track; it doesn't rest the "heel" the way a rabbit does.
   This is a nice mystery for the morning. Now I need to decide how desperate I am to figure out what it is. If I do figure it out, though, then the mystery is over. Then I'll have to go find another mystery.
   For those of you waiting for my thoughts on Nadab and Abihu, I've been thinking of what I really want to say about the whole matter.
Blessings,
exodus15

Bird feeder faith

I hung my first bird feeder roughly two weeks ago. It was ten days before the first birds came. I was at work and my son and husband saw the first ones. Saturday finally came and I didn’t have to go to work. I was up before dawn. With my coffee and Bible - and probably my time-wasting video game - I positioned myself to watch through the window. It was overcast, the sky lightening in a misty grey horizon. Just when I could clearly see the grass around the feeder, it happened.

THEY CAME!

I watched the chickadees, juncos, squirrels and a male cardinal. Their flitting presence and numerous returns engaged me all the drizzly morning. I may not know everything about birds, but I knew they would come. It’s what they do.

I realized the cardinal had only one eye. Playing one of our frequent philosophical games, my husband joked with me about whether I should feed him, survival of the fittest and all. [See  https://miriamsmindset.blogspot.com entry 4/27/19 and https://miriamsmindset.blogspot.com/search?q=squirrel.] 

He [the bird, not my husband] looked healthy overall. I said that if the little guy could survive an injury like that, he definitely had genetic material that should be passed on. He [my husband, not the bird] knew my answer before I gave it.

Visitors later that day included a female goldfinch and a hairy woodpecker. Today, I also had titmice and some mourning doves. My one eyed friend was also back.

At prayer meeting last night, I received a gradual revelation that this morning condensed into a word for me and perhaps all of us:
•I hung the bird feeder.
•I was certain the birds would come.
•I waited.
•I was certain the birds would come.
•I heard a good report: the birds were coming.
•I had evidence that they would come, but I hadn’t yet seen them.
•I waited.
•When the time was right, I saw the object of my faith.
•I hung the bird feeder in expectation of the joy I would receive.
•And then came my realization: the thing that brought me joy brought nourishment to many!

This "wow" moment has been with me most of the day. I'm waiting to see how I will be able to apply this joy/feeding principle in my human interactions.

I close with some verses for your consideration and joy. Shalom!

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith [pistis] is the substance [hupostasis] of things hoped for [elpizo], the evidence [elegchos] of things not seen.

Luke 12:6-7

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Luke 12:24

Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse not barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than fowls?

Matthew 1o:29-31

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.