Parking for church yesterday morning, we saw something I'd never even heard of before: the pumpkins on the porch of one house had been completely gnawed away. A squirrel was perched on top. At the next house was another squirrel, the flayed pumpkins had holes gnawed into them.
Then last night, when I saw a three year-old boy walking eagerly toward the zoo dressed as a jack-o'lantern, I had to stop myself from shouting out, "Hey kid, watch out for the squirrels."
I also noticed that all our neighborhood pumpkins have been viciously attacked this year. I assumed it was from racoons or badgers or skunks or something until I actually witnessed a squirrel-jacking with my own eyes.
An "old codger" I talked to (yeah, that's how he refers to himself) said that it's a sign that a really hard winter is coming. Stock up on the really warm coats for all your little ones this year.
Hmmm. Sometimes I root for squirrels.