Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Baitball Blogger

(46,576 posts)
Sun May 29, 2016, 12:13 PM May 2016

Mysteries of the wild that redefine our understanding of nature's pecking order.

This morning I was walking the dog when I saw this red shoulder hawk sitting on the end of a limb on a dead tree. I thought, "Damn, I need a camera! I need it now!" and just when I thought I had reached peak AWE the scene turns into something entirely different. Spanish Moss had clumped up at the center of the tree and from this morass-ma out comes a baby squirrel. It runs along the limb that the Red Shoulder Hawk is perched on. When the baby squirrel is four feet from the hawk, the squirrel takes a jump to come down and jounce the limb. It has the desired effect and the hawk is startled and flies away.

I'm thinking to myself, take a lesson out of nature and BE THE SQUIRREL.

10 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Mysteries of the wild that redefine our understanding of nature's pecking order. (Original Post) Baitball Blogger May 2016 OP
One day I was walking along LiberalElite May 2016 #1
today on my way to work I saw a squirrel Skittles May 2016 #2
The other day I was at the lake and I heard a powerboat getting closer NightWatcher May 2016 #3
The other day I had a Wish Sandwich. Iggo May 2016 #4
That just makes me blue.... lastlib May 2016 #5
per Hawkeye Skittles May 2016 #6
Mad tangent.... intrepidity Jun 2016 #10
There us a song that goes with this. dilby May 2016 #7
Be the Squirrel videos Fla Dem May 2016 #8
That's what I'm talking about. Baitball Blogger May 2016 #9

LiberalElite

(14,691 posts)
1. One day I was walking along
Sun May 29, 2016, 06:21 PM
May 2016

a side street in NYC and noticed that a cat was intently watching a young squirrel in my path. I thought I was about to see a "Wild Kingdom" moment but the youngster escaped when he realized he was in danger. BE THE SQUIRREL.

Skittles

(152,964 posts)
2. today on my way to work I saw a squirrel
Sun May 29, 2016, 08:41 PM
May 2016

he stopped and went into "begging" position, as he does daily for me as I am leaving for work, and I tossed him a peanut-in-the-shell....as I was backing away, I saw him up in the tree, happily chomping on the peanut

BE THE SQUIRREL

NightWatcher

(39,343 posts)
3. The other day I was at the lake and I heard a powerboat getting closer
Sun May 29, 2016, 11:07 PM
May 2016

I looked up to see this bad ass.



BE THE SQUIRREL

Iggo

(47,487 posts)
4. The other day I had a Wish Sandwich.
Sun May 29, 2016, 11:14 PM
May 2016

Now a Wish Sandwich is a sandwich where you have two pieces of bread and...hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm...you WISH you had some meat! Bow, bow bow...

BE THE SQUIRREL!

Skittles

(152,964 posts)
6. per Hawkeye
Mon May 30, 2016, 06:47 PM
May 2016

"This happened while I was in my first year of medical school. I was taking an exam in anatomy. It was really tough. They ask questions like "How many bones are there in the hand?" I was stymied. I kept saying to myself, "How many bones are there in the hand?" Then I heard this little voice that said "24." I looked around the room and there sitting on the window sill of the classroom was this little grey squirrel with a very intelligent face. And he pointed at his hand and said "24." So I wrote it down. And then after the exam I rushed over to the library to look it up. And would you believe it? That stupid squirrel was wrong by four bones. I went looking all over the campus for him. I wanted to kill him. I finally found him over on a bench by the pysche department. "You were wrong!" I screamed at him. "There's 28 bones in the human hand!" "Oh," he said pointing at his hand, "I thought you meant a squirrel's hand."

BE THE SQUIRREL

intrepidity

(7,241 posts)
10. Mad tangent....
Wed Jun 1, 2016, 05:31 PM
Jun 2016

I wonder why knowing the number of bones is important to a medical doctor. Does it happen in the course of a physician's career that he has a patient who is missing a bone, and the only way the doctor diagnosed it was by counting?

Seriously. Why did Hawkeye need to know how many bones are in the hand?

/off tangent

Latest Discussions»The DU Lounge»Mysteries of the wild tha...