August 7th: "Don't Feed the Squirrels"

It's early afternoon on another beautiful day here in Alaska. Standing on my front porch I can't see Squirrel, but I call out to him in the forest, "Hey Squirrel, if you're up there, come on down." I forgot that when I was at Denali National Park with my mom and aunt, I took a picture of a sign that I wanted to show him.

A few moments later Squirrel came down from the treetops, leaping from one tree to another, making little squawking noises along the way, constantly looking around for all the predators I don't normally notice.

"Hi Al", he said as he got to the porch. "What's up?"

I showed him the picture I took of the sign. "Look", I said, "this sign from Denali National Park says 'Don't feed the squirrels'. I guess I better change the feeding policy around here" I said, trying hard not to laugh.

"Bah, you can't believe those guys", he said, standing up now, and waving his hands in the air. "They always play favorites to the big animals like the bears and moose, but squirrels are animals, too. Did they happen to tell you their favorite joke about squirrels?"

"No, what's that?"

"Do you know what you call a squirrel in Alaska in the winter?", he asked.

"No", I said, playing along, "What do you call a squirrel in the winter in Alaska?"

"A bear popsicle", he said, without laughing. "Pretty funny, huh?", he asked, looking very upset.

"Actually, that is kind of funny ..."

Still looking at my picture, Squirrel continued. "By the way, have YOU ever tried to find food in a forest?" he said, point right at me. "It's not as easy as it looks, especially this far north. What, with the short summers, and the long, cold winters. Brrrr..." he says, wrapping his arms around his squirrel body and shivering, then flashing me his big, sad eyes.

"Don't worry, Squirrel", I said. "I just thought the sign was funny, so I wanted to share it with you. Besides, I told the ranger about you, and she said it was okay, but that you should keep getting most food on your own, and that I shouldn't feed the whole neighborhood. Speaking of food, I just walked into town and got some lunch. Here's some flatbread from my gyros sandwich."

"Flat bread! I looooove flat bread. I'll take two. See you later!" he said, somehow holding two pieces of the bread in his mouth, and quickly bounding off between the trees. I'm glad that sign didn't bother him too much.