My Little Pal

This guy and I are forming a bond, I think. Of the five squirrels that frequent the bird food area at my house, this one is the only one that doesn't run when I come out the door. He seems to know that I'm the bearer of the good things and he just goes a little way up the tree when I approach it with peanuts. As soon as I move away he comes back down and doesn't mind my coming back out with my camera and tiptoeing closer to him. This afternoon he even stayed on the ground under the tree and let me throw sunflower seed hearts right to him! Of course, when the dogs pop out the door behind me he becomes a bit less sanguine about the whole affair. But he does seem to understand that the dog who is interested in catching him - Bugsy - can't reach him when he's up at the peanut place, so he just ignores the barking and goes on eating. He also doesn't share the peanuts with his cohorts - I might add...

I fantasize that he might be one of the two squirrels we released here that had been orphans raised at The Wildlife Center last year - but of course, I have no way of knowing that.

In any case, he's my buddy.