Anticipation and Anxiety

The Cast of Characters:

First, there is Lizzie. She is our little rescue Corgi, and she actually has nothing at all to do with this post. I just included her here because I think this picture is funny.




Next, is the little mama squirrel. A few weeks ago, a friend and I were sitting in my living room having coffee, when we noticed this very busy squirrel out the front window. She was scampering across the top branches of one tree and leaping into another tree, filling her mouth with spanish moss, running down the tree trunk and then back up the other tree trunk and disappearing into the highest branches. Then she would pop back out and do it all over again. This went on for most of the morning. So, being the astute quilter that I am, I knew that a nest was being built. Hurray! This is where the anticipation comes in.
Then, just like that, she vanished and I have not seen hide nor hair of her for several weeks. But, finally, a couple of days ago she re-emerged. And she is famished. She comes down and eats, and when she does you can actually see debris fly! Acorn hulls and leaves scatter to the winds as she chows down. And, she is so focused on eating, it is like she is in some sort of trace. Things are happening all around her, that would normally frighten a squirrel away, but she does not even seem to notice. And, that is where character #3, and the anxiety, come in.


Zombie, you've met her before. She is our little black cat, who thinks she is a dog (but that is a story for another day). She is a fabulous little hunter who specializes in mice, lizards and small birds (did you notice the mouse in the picture?) And I have even seen her stalking an entire flock of wild turkey on more than one occasion. (Maybe she thinks she is a bird-dog!)
So, yesterday, I was doing a little stitching when I noticed a black streak flash across the driveway. It was Zombie in that crouched run that indicates she is on the hunt. I looked out the other window to see what she was stalking and YIKES!! It was the little mama squirrel. She was down on the ground, in her feeding trace, and the cat was coming up behind her. I opened the window and yelled at the cat, but neither the cat nor the squirrel took any notice of me. So, I tried banging on the window. The cat never flinched, but the squirrel snapped to attention, thank goodness. She saw the cat and ran part way up an oak tree, then turned around to stand her ground. Have you ever heard that funny, squeaky bark that squirrels make? Anyway, that bought me enough time to get outside and get the cat before anyone got hurt.

Unfortunately, this has happened twice in two days. So, now I am constantly on guard, watching and waiting for the next potential attack. And, I am worrying about those babies. What will happen when they venture out of their nest for the first time? Aargh...this is a problem. My guy, of course, thinks that I am nuts. Survival of the fittest, the cycle of nature and all that crap. He even called me a bleeding heart liberal. Which I am not!! I am a woman with good conservative values, except for those couple of foolish years in my youth when I was registered as a......well, that is a story for another day, too.