A Scampering Apple?

As I checked out our campsite at Deadman Lake, I saw what appeared to be a huge red apple scurrying toward me. I thought these long days were getting to me, so I did a double-take. At closer look, I realized it was a squirrel carrying an apple. The apple was so big that it obscured the squirrel.

When the squirrel spotted me, it panicked. Both legs spread, and it dropped the apple. But only for a second. It grabbed hold of the apple again and moved to the left where it could hide behind some shrubs and work on the apple. Just then, a gray jay spotted the squirrel and landed on a branch nearby. According to the wildlife info. in the campground, the gray jays are “camping thieves,” and I think the squirrel knew this because he kept a firm grasp on that apple. Another gray jay showed up a few seconds later.

Aware of the threat, the squirrel sunk his teeth deeper in that apple and headed up a tree. He had to do some extra dancing to get that huge prize up the tree, but he was an acrobat. Although at a loss of sight, he scrambled up that tree in no time and then jumped across to another tree, escaping from my view.