Life is Squirrelly

Bailout, Schmailout.  Let’s talk about something really important: celebrity squirrels.

If it weren’t for the fact that October is Squirrel Awareness Month, I would never have known about Sugar Bush.  More about her later.

Squirrel Awareness Month is the pet project of the Squirrel Lover’s Club, which boasts 2,500 members.  Personally, I fail to see how anyone could fail to be aware of the little buggers, but then I live in Squirrel Central.

With a walnut tree in the back and tasty flower bulbs in the front, my house is smack dab in the middle of a squirrel smorgasbord, visited by dozens of ravneous rodents every day.

Corky knows each and every one of them and greets them with an indignant yapping.

Except for the fact that they set off the Incredible Barking Corkster, I really don’t mind the little guys.  I find the tail-twitching beguiling and the paws-to-mouth nibbling adorable. 

We are blessed with a diversity of squirrels in California.  In the Midwest, ethnicity in the squirrel kingdom is as limited as the diversity in the human inhabitants. An exception is the town of Olney, Ill, where there is a protected population of albino squirrels.  And when I say protected, I mean by a plethora of local laws.  When my Starter Husband had a sales job, his route took him through Olney and he was terrified of accidentally hitting one of the white squirrels for fear he would be hauled off to the hoosegow in handcuffs.  Accident or not, it is a major crime to smash a squirrel in Olney, Ill. 

At my house we have a veritable United Nations of squirrels.  My Midwestern parents were somewhat taken aback by the black ones, which have, shall we say, somewhat sparse fur on their tails and look like giant rats.  “Ewww” was Mom’s precise description.

Because it is a month to celebrate our furry friends, I’d like to tell you about a famous one I once met.  It was at the Indiana State Fair or some such large gathering of Hoosiers.  In the 4-H Pavilion at 1:00 was a special performance by Trixie the Waterskiing Squirrel.  Trixie had her own little life jacket (safety first!) and rode behind a remote control boat in a large 10-ft diameter kiddie pool.  It’s a good thing Trixie’s boat has a tight turning radius.  She was quite the crowd pleaser.

Trixie is not the most famous squirrel in the world.  She’s just the most famous one I have actually met.

The afore-mentioned Sugar Bush may just be the Paris Hilton of the rodent world.

Sugar Bush is known as the “World’s Most Photographed Squirrel.”  She is not an heiress like Paris (ooh, that rhymes!) but she does love to dress up–she has 2,000 outfits–and her motto would resonate with Paris’ fans as well:  “Grab Ya Nuts and Follow Me…”

Sugar Bush has posed for thousands of photographs.  According to her web site (www.sugarbushsquirrel.com) her likeness can be found on “calendars, children’s books, paper dolls, a stuffed animal with an elaborate wardrobe, coffee table books, coloring books, MySpace, thousands of blogs, advertisements, billboards, buses, magazines, newspapers, webnews & TV shows to military photos for our troops!”

But this month is not just for Celebrity Squirrels.  Let’s remember all the little squirrels, who go about their daily lives dodging cars, scampering over electric wires, and flinging themselves from tree to tree.  They’ve earned our admiration, don’t you think?  Now, if they’re just stay out of the bird feeder.