Some of you may recall the March squirrel rescue where Steve offered up our guest room to the flooded critters while I was away. If not, check it out here: Hombre Loco

Recently we’ve had a little squirrel in the yard with some significant difficulties; he has a gimpy arm, is blind in one eye, and has serious balance issues. He lifts a seed or nut to his mouth and immediately falls over backwards, or sideways, depending on the wind. We call him Fall Down Boy. I have to admit I’ve stashed some birdseed on the ground especially for him, but I’m pretty sure he won’t survive a winter. But our neighbor, a big construction worker guy, has a soft spot for critters. He saved a blackbird from a nest and the bird has imprinted on him. It flies into his truck in the morning and goes to work with him, returning home with him at night. Steve mentioned this to me and we took a walk to his house to check it out. Sure enough, this chatty bird was perched on his shoulder, all but calling him “dad”. I mentioned we had a squirrel in the yard we were calling Fall Down Boy. He said, “Oh, you mean Stumbles?” Obviously our little friend had been making the rounds. Our neighbor confessed that his wife got pissed at him when he came home with $70 worth of nuts.

Our neighbor was getting ready to move to a new house and was concerned about Stumbles. He suggested Steve help him catch Stumbles, and that he’d build an enclosure for him. Steve never followed up, as while I can easily anthropomorphize any animal I do understand we’re supposed to let nature take its course. I’d be sad to see him fall prey to something higher on the food chain like the hawk I had sitting on my car not long ago, but I would get it.

Our neighbor has since moved, and we haven’t seen Stumbles. I don’t want to know if Stumbles made the trip to the new digs along with the blackbird, it’s easier that way. But my friend Andrea sent me the best card. It’s an illustration by Eileen Sorg, of a squirrel on a roller skate chariot being pulled by a magpie. I hope this is what’s happening somewhere in Fairhaven with Stumbles and a certain chatty blackbird. Maybe it was meant to be.

Stumbles and the Blackbird

Deborah