Mr. Half-Tail

So, winter is in full swing now. My "Dirty Dozen" as I like to refer to them... is now down to about half. Hibernation? My change in work hours giving me much less day time in the yard to see them? They just don't stray far from their homes? Whatever the case may be... here is one I do miss the last number of weeks since the cold weather set in... meet "Mr. Half-Tail"



We had a "Stumpy" a few years ago... so "Mr. Half-Tail" popped out and has stuck with me although Ang prefers "Pom Pom". As you might notice from his photo, he does have half a tail.

Most of the Squirrels rather blend in together... just a bunch of trouble-making yet comical misfits with no names. A few do get a name for physical appearance or characteristic reasons as you may recall with Smokey and Jigger.




There is more to "Mr. Half Tail" than just the half tail. He is the blackest, shiniest and fastest of the bunch. The back door opens and Squirrels come running from all directions and he passes them all with ease like a champion Stallion in a rush to get a peanut. He works harder than the others when searching them in the grass... you can just see it in him... quickly moving about, back and forth, left to right.


He follows me like a faithful puppy the full length of the yard for that peanut.

It's nearing the middle of January, so I like to think that in about 8 weeks, things will start to go back to normal for yard critter visitors. I do hope he is one of the returning Squirrels (not all have come back) and wonder if "Mr. Half-Tail" will still have just a half tail?