Yesterday, Frank's #1 Son sent me an email advising me that it was Squirrel Appreciation Day. Sure enough, MessyMimi who always announces what's going on Today in History at the end of her blog posts included it too. I'm a day late with this but I figured that now would be a good time to share a few photos taken a few months ago of Benny and a very patient squirrel.
These images were taken shortly before summer ended. As you can see, the leaves are still on the tree. What you can't see, is a mama squirrel relaxing on one of the upper branches of this tree, and she's taunting our Benny.
She's a bright little thing and knows that a dog on the ground doesn't pose much of a threat to a squirrel in a tree. But Benny is ever hopeful, and will do his best to get at her. So how high can he go?Well that's not very high, Benny. You'll have to try harder than that.Good jump for a little dog but she's way up there, buddy.Now we're talking. You're getting some leverage into those jumps.Just a bit higher and you could land on that first branch. Maybe next time.Eventually Benny got tired of trying and went inside for a nap. Mama Squirrel immediately came down to enjoy the seed spilled on the ground.In actual reality, Benny has chased and caught a couple of squirrels and one chipmunk. In all cases, he mouthed their tails gently and then immediately let them go. It's all in the chase for him. I'm so pleased that he is unlike so many of his breed who will hunt them down and kill them. He's a crazy little gentle soul, that Benny. But shhhhh... don't tell Mama Squirrel that our ferocious Benny still sleeps with a teddy bear. He'll never be able to live it down.
