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Posted By: identify7

It is interesting that appearance plays such a part in persons feelings toward living things. Although a member of the rodent family, squirrels possess a bushy tail which they often seem to flaunt. In any case, I would not want to be viewed by the neighborhood children as the squirrel killer.

Actually, several years ago (since you offered a story) the neighborhood oaks were particularly productive of acorns. That fall I offered two young girls four shiney quarters a piece if they would pick up the acorns which fell in my driveway and fill a 5 gal bucket. They accepted.

That winter we got snowstorms back to back of 24 + 17". I went into the garage and retrieved the bucket of acorns and placed it on the back deck; tilted it so that a lot of the contents spilled out. It took a full day until the squirrel party started. They were quite entertaining for days. Needless to say, the two young girls were invited to watch the festivities, which delighted them for hours at a time.

Edited to add: I have often wondered about the coorelation between the number of legs a creature has and its attractiveness. It seems to me that those with more than 4 or less than 2 are not typically viewed favorably.