When I was a child I was always fascinated by all kinds of wildlife;and being raised on a farm there was always an abundance of wild critters to observe. Deer, rabbits, gophers, squirrels; you name it and it could be found somewhere nearby.

My particular favorite was squirrels and I was determined to catch one and have it for a pet. Dad did his best to discourage me from my quest; telling me that wild animals do not belong in captivity and seldom do well if you do capture one. However, my mind was made up that I could win a squirrel over with kind words and lots of good food.

Just to the North of our farm there was an old abandoned apple orchard that was just full of squirrels.A lot of the trees were partially hollow and this is where the squirrels made their nests. I noticed one tree in particular that had a squirrel hole part way up the trunk and another hole on the other side of the tree where a large branch came out. I figured that if a squirrel was inside the tree I could tie a sack around the end of the branch and use a long stick to drive the squirrel out of the tree and into my sack.

I set my trap and sat back to wait patiently for my squirrel to come along. Finally, after an hour of being eaten alive by mosquitoes, along came a big beautiful fox squirrel. A little bigger squirrel then I had in mind but beggars can't be choosers.

As soon as the squirrel was completely inside the tree I ran for the tree and stuck my stick into the hole where the squirrel was. Eureka, my plan worked perfectly. The fox squirrel dove into the sack and I tied it quickly with binder twine before he figured out what had happened. Boy, I was sure proud of myself.

After arriving back home I then took the squirrel and dumped him into a cage i had prepared for him. Whoo-ee, I never saw an angrier animal in my whole life. The squirrel bristled up to three times his size and told me in no uncertain terms just exactly what he thought of being stuck in a cage and used every foul word there was in squirrel language.

After several days went by I finally had to concede that perhaps my father was right about wild things. The squirrel's attitude never changed no matter how sweet I talked to him or what wonderful treats I offered him to eat. It soon became plain that mister squirrel was going to die of thirst or starvation rather then give in to captivity. It was plain that the squirrel hated me with every fiber of his being.

Dad came out to look at the squirrel and told me to let the animal go at once or he would indeed die. I asked dad how I was to get the squirrel back to the orchard; the cage was much too heavy to carry and there was no way that squirrel was going to voluntary get back in that sack.. "Just let him go in the yard and he will find his way back to the woods", Dad said.

Dad and I dragged the cage out into the yard and I prepared to say goodbye to mister squirrel. I told him I was sorry for the misery I had caused him and I wished him a good life. My little speech didn't cut any ice with that squirrel though; he was mad all the way through and proceeded to tell me so. The minute I opened the cage door that animal came straight at me with his tail bushed out and mouth wide open. I don't think I ever ran so fast in my life. I just made it to the kitchen door and slammed it in his face. That squirrel stomped around outside for a while then took off for the tree behind the house. Through all this my dad was laughing so hard the tears were running down his face. I didn't see what was so funny; I could have been killed by that critter.

Dad said he hoped I had learned my lesson and I believe I did. I never captured anything bigger then barn mice after that. However, me and the mice are another story for another time.

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