Squirrel

My sister Shelby always wakes me up at dawn; she loves to wrestle in the dewy morning earth and search the moist soil for the nuts buried deeper underground. I climb out from the warm nest I built a few weeks ago to keep Shelby quiet for Mother.

“Race you down!” Shelby screams on her way down our tree as I begin moving my paws to stretch.

As I stand up, I begin to get a feel for the day. Every day the earth has a different feeling radiating from it. Some days feel angry, some days feel happy: some days bad things happen, some days we catch a break.

Our family lives in three Oak trees that form a triangle. The branches of my tree extend towards the branches of the other trees allowing us to not step paw on earth if we don’t want to. Two-leggers have taken over the earth down below and their favorite four-leggers like to chase us – too bad they are rarely smart or quick enough to.

Today feels the same as the last four have – uneasy.

Four days ago, I woke up and felt this same feeling. That day, the two-leggers had sirens going off everywhere. All of them left the earth below in a panicked rush. Shelby and I did not know what was going on, or what the danger was, so we hid in our tree. We lazed around on branches while Mother went down below to collect food. We didn’t move from our nests until the next day even though most of the two-leggers were still gone. We didn’t see them for 2 more days; the weekly hiatus they take from earth.

S in trees- randy.jpeg

“Kaaarrriii!!!” she screams standing on her hind legs down below. “Let’s find breakfast before the earth gets too hard to dig.”

I scamper down our tree to meet her on earth. When I land, she tackles me in a sudden game of wrestle.

She grabs my tail and I take off in a sprint towards the two-leggers’ white square tree and towards the post that Shelby can’t jump onto.

I leap onto the post and stare down at Shelby who begins to screech at me in frustration.

“Sister! That’s not fair! I can’t jump as good as you,” Shelby tells me.

“Na-na-na-na-boo-boo!” I taunt her.

“I’m going to tell mother you’re not playing fair,” she retorts.

“Don’t wake her up! You know how she . . .” and then suddenly I see a two-legger to the left of us. I’m quick but Shelby is only a few months old and hasn’t fully learned the art of getting away.

“Shelby run!” I scream as the two-legger approaches her from behind.

She turns her young head around and the two-legger grabs her.

human holding squirrel.jpeg

I jump down from the post and begin to run around its feet as I screech at the top of my lungs to warn all of the others still slumbering in the twilight.

“Kari!! Help! Help! What’s it doing?” Shelby yelped in a scared voice.

“Scratch it! Scratch it!” I tell her, but it has a great hold on her.

It starts touching on her head and back for some reason.

“What’s it doing to me?” she asks in a high pitch scream.

The other squirrels begin screeching as they perch themselves on the branches in fear.

Suddenly, the two-legger places Shelby on the post and mumbles something incoherent.

Shelby takes off as fast as she can towards our tree and I follow suit.

When we get back home, all of the squirrels crowd our branch to see what happened to Shelby. Mother, awake now, approaches Shelby and sniffs her head.

Mother places her head on top of Shelby’s head and whispers, “Shelby. When you are on earth you have to constantly watch your surroundings. You have to be prepared for anything” and Mother licks her cheek[1].

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Meeting Austin squirrels for the first time at The University of Texas at Austin on my visit as a senior in high school forced me to rewrite my opinion of squirrels. My family and I were walking around UT in order to capture the vibe of the University. As we walked past the Martin Luther King Jr. Statue, a squirrel caught my eye, staring at me as she sat upright on a bench, arms held loosely in front of her, with a curious expression on her face. Completely intrigued by finally being allowed to sit next to a squirrel, I sat on the bench (Completely intrigued by finally being allowed to sit next to a squirrel, I sat on the bench.)She turned her head in order to look me in the eye; I had dreamt of being able to touch a squirrel in my hometown of Arlington, TX, where the squirrels are as skittish as houseflies. Not knowing the proper way to interact with such a wild creature, my cat-lover instincts came to a head and I extended my hand, palm up so she could smell my scent.

She leaned closer to test the waters. Then, she suddenly grabbed my hand and raced down the pebble sidewalk. I instinctively jerked away from the attack knowing I was hurt. This was my first physical encounter with a wild squirrel, but it wouldn’t be my last. After my squirrely experience, I felt the victim of a squirrel ruse! This squirrel did not hurt me. She was testing me; making her power known to my world. “They become our teachers, our friends, and our companions. They show is the true majesty of life itself. They restore our forgotten childlike wonder at the world. And they reawaken our lost belief in magic, dreams and possibilities”[2].

me and squirrel.jpeg

The humor of the squirrel was oddly grounding to me. Squirrels push people’s buttons: darting in front of cars at the last second, knocking nuts and berries off trees to hit humans or other animals down below, chasing each other up and down trees, playing pranks. Squirrels have the greatest sense of humour. Growing up, my sister and I played pranks constantly. We always tried to catch my dad off guard but we only succeeded a handful of times.

Squirrels are pranksters! They seem to have the heart of a child. “Play is not purely an infantile activity, but is part of the total ontogeny, following fluctuations according to age and season.”[3] Depending on the season, squirrel behavior while playing varies between aggressive and playful activity that coincides with heterosexual and homosexual activity4. Between June 7 and August 29, association of the same sexes occurs, indicating a probable homosexual preference4. I also have a homosexual preference but from January 1 to December 31. I feel more connected to the squirrel for being a tad queer.

From this class, I have learned to let nature speak with me: to listen to the animals that cross my path in life and dreams5. I am learning Animal Speak. Before this class, I believed nature to not be present in the city. There are places such as Zilker Park and Barton Springs but inside the urban area, nature did not exist in my eyes. Now I realize nature is everywhere. We cannot escape it because we are a part of it. “Everything we do repercusses upon it, and everything within it repercusses on us . . . The saddest part is that when we fail to reverence any aspect of nature and our intimate connection to it, we are failing to reverence intimate aspects of our own self”5.

humans and squirrel in photo.jpeg

To narrow my research, I have chosen the fox squirrel (found at The University of Texas at Austin) as my specific spirit animal.

The diet of the squirrel includes nuts, fruits, seeds, and if needed they will eat insects6: a vegetarian diet (besides insects) like me. In groups, squirrels exhibit camaraderie, social grooming and are unselfish when they feel a threat is approaching7. They produce warning calls to alert the others; the squirrel that begins the call is usually the last to leave the scene and thus puts him or herself in more danger7.

Fox squirrels are able to see all around them with little movement because their eyes are slightly on the side of their head and slightly angled forward7.. Being able to be aware of my surroundings with minimal effort remains one of my goals. A physical movement is not what I aim for; instead, I enjoy reading the people around me with minimal effort. Being able to read the mood of a person seems beneficial in a world of uncertainty. I have been developing this skill for two years and its ramifications continue to serve my personal and professional life well. You begin to develop closer relationships with people because of how in-tune you are with them.

Fox squirrels scan their environments constantly to watch for predators8. They teach me to be ready for anything. I tend to not notice the potential problems in my life so they sneak up on me. I am a spontaneous decision maker and need to look at the squirrels’ awareness and readiness to guide me through making quick decisions.

Squirrels are great at storing and planning for the future9. They gather enough nuts and seeds for the winter but only the amount required to survive7. Squirrels can teach me about letting go of physical objects. I am actually considered a hoarder by my close friends. I do not have mounds of clutter in my home like the TV show portrays but I do have a problem with letting certain items go. I have kept: every card I’ve ever gotten since I was fourteen, all of my high school clothes in boxes at my dad’s house, my schoolwork from high school and college, and most surprisingly I have most of my baby teeth in a Ziploc bag. Despite holding on to the physical, I can easily let go of negative emotion and stress. “We need to lighten our load, physically, mentally, and emotionally”9.

Looking at the squirrel for guidance, I see the perseverance to gather enough food for the winter and the knowledge to know what is needed and what is extraneous7. In my life, this would translate to being able to decide who or what is needed in my life and who or what is extraneous in order to lighten my load. This relates back to the awareness the squirrel has of its’ place in the world. Being prepared for the worst and aware of potential obstacles as they approach are now my main squirrel lessons.

The squirrel shows the possibility of balance in life. Squirrels balance work, play, and relaxation time7. Even while working, they begin fooling around and chasing one another7. Being able to switch from work to play seamlessly to allow time for both continues to be my personal battle. I vary between working too much and I playing too hard.

Reading about the life of a squirrel, I was reminded of an issue in a squirrel’s life – forgetfulness. Squirrels have a tendency to forget where they have stored their food7; this describes me. My unreliable memory forced me to carry a small composition book and pen everywhere I go in order to cope with my memory deficiency. I write down anything important: plans I make and all ideas I have because without fail, I will forget. I wish the squirrel and I diverged here but we run a parallel path. At least, though, I am able write everything down.

Squirrel teaches me to become more aware, balanced, efficient, and prepared in life while maintaining a humourous outlook. Below is a poem that describes us.

The story of us:

Gathering, Activity, Preparedness

The gathering power of Squirrel is a great gift.
It teaches us balance within the circle of gathering and giving out.
They remind us that in our quest for our goals,
it is vital to make time for play and socializing.

Squirrel teaches us to conserve our energy for times of need.
If your totem is Squirrel or Squirrel has recently entered your life,
lighten your load of things that are unnecessary –
things that you have gathered in the past and may be cluttering your life –
thoughts, worries, and stresses.

Squirrel is also the totem of action.
Ask yourself are you too active, not active enough, afraid of enough,
hung up on accumulating and collecting.
Squirrel people tend to be a little erratic – trying to do many things at once.
Take the time to stop and listen to your inner self – and don’t forget to play!10

Illustrations:

Baby Squirrels in their nest1

A human holding a squirrel (Shelby)2

The photo of me taken after being attacked3

The humour of the squirrel caught on camera4

A Squirrel collecting nuts4

Storing nuts for later5