Admittedly Parker is a squirrel, but there are some days when the moniker of “squirrelly” really fits him.
Today’s post features pictures I took of my favorite Park pal yesterday. The sun was out in full force – what a great shadow day! He and his brethren were all lined up along the perimeter path as I did my morning meander. Today was rain-free, but a very gray day.
My worries about my little buddy following me out of the Park and into the neighborhood are not unfounded. For three days in a row, he has found me both inside and outside of the Park. While I am flattered that he loves me for myself, my cache of peanuts and/or the extra attention I pay to him, today he was just beyond squirrelly.
I’ve been pushing myself to get my daily five miles walked as we zoom through September – that means a round trip from home to the Park and three loops … two loops in the woodsy area where most of the critter activity is and one loop on the other side of the Park.
I saw Parker at the start of the pathway. He hurried over.
I tossed him a few peanuts to enjoy, knowing he’d likely catch up with me again.
The other squirrels wanted part of this action too. Check out the fancy footwork … almost as fast as a racehorse coming down the track.
My goodies and me were being checked out at all angles.
Next, I headed to the second loop, on the other side, which is boring, but that’s where the turtle nest is. (I’m sorry to say, that as of this morning, no hatchlings yet.)
I was ready to leave the perimeter path for home, when I stopped to chat with another walker as she approached her car. I always look around for my little buddy before I leave the parking lot and cross the street to head home. “Good” I thought, “no Parker, so no worries he’ll tag along at my heels behind me and go out into the busy street.”
However, not one minute later, a pickup truck rolled up to the stop sign and he waved me to go ahead. I thanked him and then that driver rolled down the window and with a big smile on his face, he said “looks like someone followed you out of the Park!” So, there was Parker, right at my heels, crossing River Drive with me. I smiled and patted the Ziploc bag of peanuts I had clipped to the side of my fanny pack and called out “it will be his second treat today, so don’t let the sad eyes fool you!”
So, Parker and I went to “our rock” in the neighborhood across from the Park, so I could dole out more peanuts while he waited beside my feet. Knowing his M.O., he’d grab one or two and streak back across the street to the Park to bury them, only this time, he climbed onto the rock that sits on the homeowner’s property.
I got the peanuts ready, he ran down, grabbed one, then scrambled back up the rock and turned his back on me to eat it. Hmmm – not good manners.
I went to leave, and he grabbed another peanut and beat it across the street.
But, did he cross the street, like the proverbial chicken? No, he ran to the middle of the street and parked himself there to eat a peanut. I called out “are you crazy – get over to the other side!” I had to run to the middle of the street myself and chase him to the grass in the Park. He looked at me. Was this a ploy for more peanuts? Well, it worked. The sucker that I am, handed over more peanuts, depositing them on the grass, and said “please stay put!” I know he waited until I walked away, then hustled back to the rock and got the rest of them.
Tomorrow I will wear a disguise.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
LoL! 🙂 You two should be on AGT!
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🙂 I risk my credibility bigtime with Parker. The guy in the truck really got a kick out of him following me. I had just looked for Parker, so he really must have raced over to catch up with me. He does that every day – he double-dips on the peanuts.
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Parker seems to know which of your buttons to push… and he keeps pushing them! Very squirrelly, but very cute.
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Thanks Janis – yes he is a smart little cookie and cute as well and gives me a run for my money! Glad you enjoyed this post.
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Ha! Take a picture of you in your disguise and post it! 🙂 Your buddy doesn’t want to leave you. You had better take him home with you. Great story!
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Ha ha – maybe I need to go for a Halloween costume a little earlier than everyone – the selection ought to be great right now! I think pretty soon Parker has to come home with me so I can keep track of him better … maybe that is what is angling for!
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Miss Linda……………………………Now who’s the one acting a “little Squirrelly”………………..??
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Ha ha Ann Marie – you made me smile!!!
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Dear Linda,
What a sweet story. Parker’s pictures and expressions are to die for. Animals are the cutest things on earth, especially when they choose to interact with humans. Why don’t you allow him to come home with you ? Are there no trees in your neighborhood ? Or would he be happier with his own family ?
I hope he keeps safe through these peanut adventures of his.
Love him,
Susie
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I’m thinking pretty soon Susie that one day he will just follow me home, but he usually heads back to the soccer field where he buries his peanuts … he must have them all over as he buries them inside the Park as well. The soccer field extends up to River Drive. We do have a lot of trees in the neighborhood – years ago we had two tall Oaks but they got carpenter ants and we had them taken down. When those trees were there, we had even more squirrels. Yes, his face is so expressive … he is very cute. I tried exiting the Park a different way – this doesn’t work out either as he’ll wait at the rock or around the bend on Pagel. I may have to go up another sidestreet and bypass this corner altogether.
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Oh my God ! He is like a puppy dog. Aren’t you lucky? Very few have the blessing to communicate with animals and gain animals’ trust.
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Yes, Susie – I feel like it is similar to having a faithful dog, and the look on the guy’s face, just smiling away when he saw Parker trailing along behind me. I have in the past had a passel of them walking behind me, especially once it gets colder. They eat what I give them along the trail, then run and catch up again, hoping I’ll turn around and “gift” them a second time. 🙂
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I was so excited to read your post and see the turtles or their nest. I will still be hopeful but sounds like they didn’t make it☹️ However, Parker is going to follow you home one of these days…hahahaha He is so cute and funny!
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Parker is very full of personality and rambunctious. I have a theory on the turtles and going to do a post on it later after I research a little after work. I think they might have accessed that hole and gotten out – I’m wondering why I didn’t think that before?
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I would have dug it up to see…hahaha
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Amazing how those animals trust you! 🌳🍃✨ That’s really a gift when one is able to communicate with them ☺️Nature is so beautiful and true and more people should be aware of this!
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Your little cat that happened along your path trusted you as well. A fellow blogger had the same thing happen with a feral group of kitties – all the people in the neighborhood, and they migrated to her home. My friend in New York shelters feral cats and their kittens all year around. She has three cats of her own and has a large back deck, so in Winter she puts out wooden shelters for them. She buys hay and heated battery-operated blankets and has heating elements in their food dishes and water dishes so the food/water does not freeze over. Carol lives fairly close to Buffalo, NY and they have some humdinger Winters there, much snow and cold, as they are in the snow belt. She even captures them and takes them to the vet for shots and then to feral kitten shelter where they can find homes. It is a never-ending cycle with the Mama cat – several litters a year.
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He has you trained!
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There is a sucker born every minute as they say.
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Acting Parkerly! 🙂 I just love him, he’s so cute. xxx
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He sure is Heather – he is cute and obstinate a bit too … he followed me out to the corner again this morning. 🙂
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I am very familiar with animal conditioning and suggest that if he runs out into the street… no peanuts be given… until “way later” far “inside” of the park. If you give him peanuts soon (after he runs into the street)… that would be reinforcing bad behavior. If he follows you out of the park as you are leaving, shout “no, no” firmly and with negativity.
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I do try when I first see him if he is in the parking lot, I make him follow me into the Park … if he is already there, then that’s okay, he can beg and he gets them right away. I couldn’t believe he sat in the middle of the street yesterday – I don’t know what possessed him to do that. I did shout at him and chased him across the street. I gave him more peanuts as I raised my voice and was concerned I had scared him and I don’t want him to be afraid of me, but hopefully saying “no, no” works better. I will try as you say Tom. I am worried that he will be hit by a car, and bad enough that happens, but if I am the cause, I’ll be very upset. And, if you can believe this … today I had two of them inside the Park coming up and standing on my shoes. Clearly they see Parker gets away with it.
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I wouldn’t try changing how you look or anything like that, as he might start running out to other people, thinking they have treats. Always feed him (and others) as far away from the street as possible… never any closer. Never!
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That’s true, but I was being funny about a disguise. Actually a few year ago, I had a dark green coat and I always wear a knitted hat in the Winter. So, another woman walker, had a similar-colored coat and dark-colored hat, and some of the squirrels were going up to her begging for peanuts. She didn’t happen to like squirrels and was afraid of them. So, she saw me one morning and said “good, you’re here – your little friends will quit bothering me!” I am very worried Parker will run out into the street and get hurt or killed. I have tried different routes – old eagles eyes that he is, he sees me and still comes over.
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haha- what a lovable little squirrel!
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He is so cute Mackenzie – mischievous, but he looks at me with his “please feed me look” and I hand over more peanuts. I’m such a sucker. 🙂
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Teheh- how cute!!! I bet he just loves you!
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Fabulous photos of Parker!!! Wish you could just take him home. Imagine the children’s book that adventure would create!!!
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Thanks Jennifer! I am lucky that he gets close enough I can take nice and clear photos of him. I’m really surprised he has not followed me all the way home … when he runs out in the street like that I think to myself that maybe I should get him to follow me home. There are plenty of trees around where he could live, but I suppose his nest, mate and maybe even family must live around there. He is a cutie pie!
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Oh bless Parker ❤❤. I love that you both have a specific rock that is yours. That is so adorable 😍
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He likes that rock Zena and that is where he goes when he follows me out of the Park … most times anyway. Sometimes he nabs me when I am walking out of the Park. I am constantly looking behind me as I don’t want him going into the street. At the rock, he waits there while I put more nuts out for him – he truly is like a little prince who gets nuts placed by his feet (or sometimes on the rock). I am trying to encourage him not to follow me out of the Park and onto the street, but even taking a different route out of the Park, like up a sidestreet, he still finds me … like a bloodhound!!
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Oh bless him. He is such a character 🙂
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What a clever little guy!! That pic of him (or another critter?) practically standing straight up is a winner!!
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Isn’t he clever? (Gee, I sound like a boastful parent!) I like when he stands up like that too – it looks like he is surveying the situation and saying “is it worth my while to go over there?”
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