by Sheryl J. Miller

Created on: March 05, 2009

"Oh, Nuts!"

I have snorkeled with manatees in Florida, and have even bottle-fed a bear cub near Yellowstone. But, most recently, I have been enjoying a much simpler animal encounter right in my own Connecticut backyard.

Yes, a few months ago something amazing started to happen. A squirrel, which my family has named "Tiffany," decided to make our side porch her own personal resting place. In short time, she even began sticking her front claws underneath the gap in our door (much to the dismay of out timid cat). Apparently, this is the squirrel version of knocking, as Tiffany taught a friend of hers to do the exact same thing.

We started handing the animals peanuts under the door. Soon, we found we were able to sit out on the porch and hand-feed them. And, as we grew more and more attached to the squirrels, we began indulging them with walnuts, almonds and even the occasional chestnut.

One particular afternoon I offered a peanut to the smaller of the two squirrels, who I had personally named "Blackie." She is not a standard grey squirrel, by any means. Her fur is almost entirely black. A friend of mine told me that this indicates Canadian descent, but I'm not sure if that is true. It doesn't matter to me either way. Well, anyway, this rambunctious critter climbed into my lap and began to sniff my hands, and then my pockets. This squirrel had grown overly accustomed to being spoiled by me, and was actually holding out for a better nut!

Tiffany isn't quite as particular. She is a grey squirrel with a red, circular patch at the top of her back. More like a dog than a squirrel, she comes when she is called, and sits up on her hind legs to beg for food. There are other squirrels in the area with similiar markings, but we can distinguish Tiffany by the look of curiousity she always seems to have on her scrunched up little face. Blackie isn't quite as predictable She shows up whenever she chooses, but still regularly sits in my lap and holds my hand as she is accepting a quality nut. Truth be told, Blackie is my favorite.

On most days, we look for the squirrels before they look for us. But, the animals have become quite adept at knocking if we are late in opening the Porch Buffet. It's funny. I have lived in the same house for almost 30 years and nothing like this has ever happened before. It has definitely become one of my more personal animal encounters.

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