A Beautiful Relationship

I keep myself busy by reading either books or blogs I follow. Recently I came across a post, in which blogger posted beautiful pictures of squirrel and birds of his garden. I got nostalgic for my Omaha apartment. As many of you might be aware that I am stuck in India due to COVID situation and It will take some time for international travel to resume.

Anyways back to our topic, so I was missing my apartment in Omaha, Nebraska. I have a balcony attached to living room which is my favorite place of the house. Couch in room is facing the balcony sideways. I used to sit there and appreciate the beauty of nature. There is a bird feeder hanging from one of the pillar in balcony. It’s a delight watching birds from the window, eating and feeding their kids.

There are 2-3 squirrels (my best guess, they all look same ) living on a tree close to my apartment. Soon they also started coming to eat. When I noticed a squirrel in my balcony first, I was so happy as they look very cute and photogenic. My camera gave me a wink too.

I took countless shots during the year and soon she got very comfortable by my presence unlike birds ,they don’t believe us easily. Don’t know, would there be a day when birds will also behave the same. Soon there was a time when squirrel and birds were eating together; birds mostly on bird-feed and railings while squirrel on ground. What a sight !

There were times when I used to open the door and lie down on the floor, camera in hand to take shots, while she was busy eating. Soon this relationship developed and we had more trust on each other. Even if bird-feeder was full, I used to scatters food on balcony floor, just for the sake of squirrel.

As the day passed, she started peeping inside (intelligent creature) in case of non availability (of food). To welcome her, I used to fetch food for her and then open the sliding-door slowly. She used to move away noticing food in my hands and wait patiently for me to finish scattering. This was kind of a routine for both of us.

Soon she was no longer afraid of me that I can read in her those shiny eyes. But I had confidence, she will never cross her limits. One day, I was working from home, sitting on the couch, laptop on lap. She arrived and didn’t find the food. As usual she peeped inside, kind of knocked hard, getting the signal, I bought food for her. I opened the door and waited for her to move away but she was right there clinging to the door. How could I take the risk of her entrance in my house, so I waited longer. But no, she was not backing down from her place. Furiously, to teach her a lesson (No food today for you), I closed the door and sat back on my couch. I never expected what was coming.

She became restless thus violent and started biting my door-net. Within seconds, she made a big hole with his big sharp (Devilish) teeth in that net. Now she was striking with her tiny paws to my door glass. To be honest, that moment, I was really afraid and was praying mirror to hold enough for her attack to cease. Thank God, glass was strong, she realized that as well. After few more punches, she gave up and went back to her tree house. I felt relaxed.

After this episode, she came around 10-12 times, making hole even bigger and trying to break the glass but couldn’t succeed. I also paid no attention to her, simply ignored her. Finally she stopped coming and this was the end of a beautiful relationship.

What I learned from this : –

1. Don’t feed wild animals

2. Even if you wish to, don’t make them too comfortable

3. Don’t overdo anything

4. If relationship gets bad, mostly it’s our fault, not theirs

This episode may have turned sour but still I can’t stop myself loving all creatures and appreciate Mother Nature.

PEACE !