You just never know what the day will bring. Especially if you’re a squirrel. Who must have heard our front door open,and sensed a dog begin to come out. Who made a fatal choice: to run up a power pole instead of an oak tree.
Life. Death. Not much separates them. One moment you’re frisky and bushy-tailed. The next instant you’re popping, crackling, and smoking on top of a power pole. Flaming too. Or maybe it was the pole that was briefly on fire.
Regardless, it was exciting enough to warrant calling 911. I was told that if a power line wasn’t down, Portland General Electric needed to handle the aftermath of the squirrel electrocution. Which they did, after our power was out for a few hours.
When they woke up, these guys didn’t know that their Saturday afternoon was going to be controlled by animal instinct—a split second decision to dash here rather than there.
Life: who can figure it?
The flames coming from the top of the power pole got the attention of several neighbors who came over to see what was going on. But our tale of smoking squirrel fur can’t begin to compete with that of the dead deer on top of a power pole. (A true story, it seems.)
[Photographic note: I’m liking my Sony HDD camcorder. It takes stills with the 12x zoom. Handy for getting close-ups of dead squirrels on top of power poles. And a live deer standing next to a metal heron in our front yard.]
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