The Squirrel Highway: A Homage to Our Furry Friends

By: Elizabeth Redhead Kriston

My daughter and I spent a rare moment quietly looking out of the windows into the world, neighborhood, and yard. The peaceful moment was disturbed as we commented in tandem about the squirrel who was traversing the electrical wires that run from big wooden poles branching off and connecting to all of the houses creating a highway of wires. This brought to mind a story I wrote years ago. 

Squirrels have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I have coexisted with them without taking notice of them most days. However, this time of year they are hard to miss as they feverishly work to prepare for winter collecting nuts and building nests.

I remember being a very young girl and spending time with my Grandma Redhead. She had a giant acorn tree in her backyard that must have been 100 years old. Each Fall Grandma

put my sister and me to work gathering all the acorns that had fallen to the ground so she could dry them in her oven. Once the snow came, she put them out for the squirrels to eat. I always thought this was a bit cruel as squirrels instinctively gather and store their own food. They must have been so confused as they watched two little girls confiscate their booty. Grandma believed that they were not competent at finding the nuts they stored.

Years later, my family moved into that same house and inherited the ancient tree and Grandma's dependent family of squirrels. Instead of stealing the nuts, we kept old bread in a basket on the bay window that overlooked the backyard and that majestic Oak tree. The squirrels would wait on the fences and wires for us to toss out the bread daily. Sometimes, we would tease them by dangling the bread in front of them as they chirped and wagged their tails in anticipation of the moldy snack. We would drag the bread across the perimeter of the window as they followed it like a a trained dog before tossing it out into the garden for them to quarrel over.

Of course these intelligent creatures waged revenge for our constant teasing. If we forgot to close the window those squirrels learned they did not have to wait. They gnawed the window screen creating a hole. Then they would run into the house snag some bread and leave the the same way.

Though many find squirrels annoying, especially if they pillage bird feeders, I find them endearing. My husband finds them tasty. To each his own. I hope you enjoy my little story/poem.

Squirrel Highway
By: Elizabeth Redhead Kriston

Between the houses, amongst the trees, and along the poles run the wires of the squirrel highway.  

Tandem black ropes threaded through the sky connecting the world up high. Crisscrossing through the town bringing light to the homes and businesses below while busy squirrels travel above completing their daily tasks.

Skittering across these pathways.  Safe from the dangers below: speeding cars and hungry dogs.

Chasing, chattering, chirping, chipper squirrels scurry back and forth, up and down balancing on the narrow strands with the skill of trapeze artists.

Stopping, tail up.  Sitting on hind legs with front paws raised.  Sniffing, looking, and listening to all the smells, sights, and sounds that fill the air. Skittishly leaping lightly away; tail flouncing, nose twitching.

Teasing dogs confined below on chains; behind fences.  Running back and forth, dancing, shaking tails with their mocking cheeps and squeaks.   Barking, dancing, jumping, drooling, chomping dogs leaping up toward the highway above; dinner and revenge on their minds.

Carrying nuts stuffed in cheeks looking for secret places to hide them, store them, save them for a cold winter’s snack.  Launching them at the manic dogs below.  Dropping them.  Losing them. Forgetting where they hid them until the spring when the nut trees grow.

Scurrying down the poles.  Hunting for goods from nearby places:  leaves, sticks, straw, and scraps of trash.  Leaping into trees.  Delivering supplies.  Building a nest, a home, a place to rest.

Meeting friends, playing chase, chit-chatting about the day’s events.  Sometimes challenging, arguing, protecting.

Peaking in the windows of houses and buildings.  Watching, spying, begging, mocking.

Resting in the sun on transformers, snoozing, dreaming, waiting.

Meeting birds: crows, sparrows, doves.  Singing songs.  Chasing them into flight, dreaming about wings.

Exploring new neighborhoods, leaping to roofs, scuttling across fences.  Turning left and right crossing roads from above.  Exploring the maze of wires.  Retracing their scent back home.

In many towns, villages and cities you’ll find the local squirrels scampering, skittering, and sailing over the paths of the squirrel highway, chirping and chattering their story, leaving their only shadows behind.

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