Luncheon Theater

I've taken to spending my lunch hours at Miller Park, where I can eat my sandwich in peace without the plaintive cries and outright begging of cats. Part of the attraction of Miller Park are the squirrels who are also good at begging, but not quite as loudly as the cats.

In 1989 a tornado came through town and Miller Park was closed for about a month while downed trees and branches were dealt with. The poor squirrels, who were used to handouts from the lunch crowd, were thoroughly confused when faced with the prospect of gathering food themselves ("What are these acorns of which you speak?")

I was a little concerned these past few days because the squirrels seemed to have disappeared. I didn't see a one on Monday, and just one on Tuesday. But today they were back in force, and they were quite amusing to watch. At first there was one...then two...until I counted about a dozen.



Squirrel snacks today consisted of popcorn and cherries (I try to provide a balanced diet)



Here's one determining the edibility of a popcorn kernel.



I haz a cherry.





This guy's my favorite. I've seen him before and it took a while for him to show up today. Notice the red tail and patch on his back. Some Yankee red squirrel must have passed through town...



I also provide lunch for a couple blue jays, cardinals, and one very persistent chipmunk. And I saw what I thought was a millipede crawl across the sewer cover. A very big millipede. {shiver}


Jane Goodall's got nothing on me.