Shadow!!!

I don't think I told you about Shadow.

I told you about Buddy, my squirrel buddy, right?  Well, about a month (or maybe two weeks, I DON'T KNOW TIME WORKS WEIRD) ago, I noticed a black squirrel running a similar route to Buddy's.

So, because he looked like Buddy but a lot darker (we only generally have grey squirrels here) I called him Shadow.  You know, like he's Buddy's shadow!

Shadow, a bit after I first noticed him, started running by with little apples in his mouth.  (Yes, I'm assuming all these squirrels are boys.... just like I assumed all the ants were boys... and just like as I kid I named everything Alice for a while.  I just... do these things.)

I was all proud of Shadow, getting a great store of things not too much smaller than his head to eat and I told him so as he ran by.

I did, however, wonder where he was finding these mini apples.  But hey, I'm no nature-ologist.  (Yes, I know that's not a word, shhhhhh)

This week, I noticed that my favourite giant tree had hangy ball-things on it.  Chestnuts maybe, again... no nature person here, and I kind of went "huh"... because I'd never seen this tree with nuts or whatnots on it before.  But hey, maybe I just haven't noticed before or something.

So imagine my surprise when I was on the phone the other day and gazing out the weekend and watched a clever little squirrel out on the edge of a branch, fiddling away with HEY!  That's where Shadow's getting those apples!  They're not apples!  They're... chestnuts or whatever it is that tree is making and well doesn't that make more sense!

So now I'm even prouder of Shadow and whoever else found that food source and squirreled (heh) it away for the Winter.  Good job guys. 

So yeah.  Shadow.  Not apples.  Gathering.  Cute!