The Frisky Squirrel

Summary

The article "The Frisky Squirrel" recounts a personal experience of observing a squirrel's agile and playful behavior, and shares interesting facts about squirrels, emphasizing the importance of utilizing one's unique abilities.

Abstract

The narrative begins with the author's serendipitous encounter with a lively squirrel from their veranda, which captivates them with its frisky movements and joyful tail wagging in rhythm with the birds' chirping. The author then visits a park and observes the swift and intelligent behavior of squirrels, noting their ability to evade cars and their impressive agility. The article delves into several fascinating facts about squirrels, including their speed, vision, non-hibernation habits, food storage practices, and their aversion to garlic and pepper. It also touches on the global presence of squirrels, except in Australia and Antarctica, and their continuously growing front teeth. The author reflects on the lesson learned from squirrels about the importance of making the most of one's unique qualities and the potential for humans to achieve great things by effectively using their cognitive and physical capabilities.

Opinions

The author is impressed by the squirrel's agility and intelligence, admiring its ability to outmaneuver other animals and humans.
There is a sense of wonder and appreciation for the squirrel's natural behavior, particularly its joyful tail movements in response to the morning sounds.
The author believes that humans can learn from the squirrel's efficient use of its abilities, suggesting that we should be grateful for our own talents and use them wisely.
The article conveys a message of environmental awareness, highlighting the squirrel's role in the ecosystem and its interaction with humans in urban settings.
There is an underlying admiration for the squirrel's adaptability and survival skills, such as storing food for winter and evading danger with its quick reflexes.

Learning the four-legged way

One morning, standing in my veranda, I heard the sound of sparrows, twittering, I looked around and I saw a crow sitting on the tree with his harsh sound ken ken. Just below that was a squirrel teasing the sparrows and the crow by friskily going up and down the tree finding little tidbits like leaves and insects to eat and picking them up before the others could lay their hands on it. The squirrel was so happy it just started putting its tail up and down with the sound of the twitter. It was like music tail moving so fast and I could not catch it on a video because I did not have my phone with me. I have never seen a sight like this and I did not want to move lest I miss the magic time.

That afternoon, I went to the central park where I live and saw so many squirrels. They were all running so fast but I managed to capture a picture. Squirrels are very intelligent. They make fools of people while driving too. People are scared that a squirrel will go under the car and die but they are so smart they just jump ahead because they can jump 20 ft. A squirrel can turn its ankle and move 180 degrees around. It is faster than other animals and there is a species of flying squirrels too. Squirrels have a brown and white striped back.

A few facts that I learned about squirrels were that they run faster than human beings and will not let you come near them. It protects itself with its eyes which are located high on the sides and they are blessed with good vision. They do not hibernate but even then they store nuts and leaves to eat in winter. They believe in ‘waste not, want not,’ so they store their food. They do not like garlic and pepper so if you don’t like squirrels to eat your plants you can put them near the plants and they will run away with the smell. They have four front teeth which never stop growing. Also, they are visible in most parts of the world but you do not see them in Australia and Antarctica at all.

The lesson I learned was that when you are endowed with some special qualities you should make good use of them and be thankful and grateful.

A human being has the quality to think and work. It is superior to other species. Those who make use of the time fruitfully and think and work are able to get good gains in life. The squirrel is only about 18cm. high but is able to do so much. We are born with a good physique and sharp mental abilities and should use them to the maximum benefit in our daily lives.