I’ll just go ahead and admit that I like this little red squirrel.
Yes, yes, I know. They can be terrible pests.
But, to his credit, so far this one hasn’t been. Well, other than the fact that he thinks that he owns our porch (where he lurked all winter in hopes of spilled birdseed) and now, apparently, our clothesline.
Now, granted, I haven’t really used that clothesline since fall. And it’s not even my regular clothesline. It’s my old one, from the days before my husband built me an official one, strung up between a couple trees near the back door. It was supposed to get taken down after he built the other one, but then it didn’t—and we kept using it on occasion for things like draping a sleeping bag that needs to be aired after a camping trip and that sort of thing and so there it remains.
In other words, partially abandoned, but not entirely, you know? I mean, I hadn’t posted a “Free, Help Yourself!” sign on it or anything yet.
So I was just a little taken aback when I went out there a couple weeks ago to hang a few things to air in the sunshine, and found myself in very hot water. Can’t you just see the indignation written all over this little fellow’s face?
I don’t think I’ve ever gotten quite such a sound scolding as he and his mate gave me. As you can see, he was so put out with me, he came right down out of the tree and sat right at the end of that clothesline, inches from my face, to give me a piece of his mind. In the branches directly over my head, his mate joined the tirade, scraping little bits of pine bark into my hair in protest.
Finally, I fled for the house, and they sat back from their squatter’s rights protest, smug with victory.
Or so they thought.
Because a couple minutes later I emerged again, this time without any suspicious articles of laundry but armed instead with a camera.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Squirrel, I’m the news reporter from your local Rejoicing Hills Gazette. I heard rumors that you’ve been experiencing trouble with your neighbor lately”–-insert camera shutter clicking busily—“and I’d like to interview you for a piece on it in tomorrow’s paper. Would you willing to answer a few questions?”
And were they ever!
Now let’s just hope I don’t get sued by the High Court of Sciuromorpha (if you don’t know what that means, click here) for taking and publishing their photos without permission. Wink.
“Do not go out hastily to argue your case; otherwise, what will you do in the end, when your neighbor humiliates you?
Argue your case with your neighbor, and do not reveal the secret of another, or he who hears it will reproach you, and the evil report about you will not pass away.” (Proverbs 25:8-10)
Rejoicing Hills 
What a nutty way to introduce me to your “Squatters” as well as to the wisdom of Proverbs. But don’t use those big words that can’t be pronounced or understood even, after following your link to greater understanding. 😏 It made me feel a bit squirrelly as I tried to wrap my brain around it all. 😄But your blog is such a delight and so are you.
Haha! I know, it was a crazy word to use, and certainly not one that makes its way into my everyday conversation! But once I discovered it myself, I couldn’t resist sharing it. I was hoping to pique the curiosity of people who like to learn new things as much as I do, and I’m happy to hear that you were one of them! 🙂