New friend

As the subject line indicates, I have me a new friend.

He's small for his species (about 7 inches long not including his tail), is covered in gray fur, and his name is Mack. Don't ask me why, Mack just fits him.

For those who haven't figured it out yet, Mack is a squirrel. He's not really a new pet since he still lives in "the wild", but I have had two pet squirrels before.

Anyway, I first noticed him about three weeks ago. I just thought he was cute. But then I noticed he kept coming back. I don't know if we just have an abundance of seeds around our patio or he just likes to taunt our cats, but he likes it over here.

When I saw him a week ago, I tossed a slice of bread out for him and he sat there and ate half of it in about three minutes. The rest he carried up the tree next to the patio. A few days ago I saw him again just as I was about to leave. I got a couple crackers and left them on the patio for him. They were gone when I got back.

He was back again today. At first, I just tossed a cracker out to him. He scarfed it up. Three of our four cats were lined up at the patio door watching him. He very boldly grabbed the cracker off the ground and then climbed up onto the tire of one of our bikes and proceeded to eat the cracker all the while staring at the cats. I got a second cracker and held it out the screen door for him. He kind of hopped around for a bit, flipping his tail at me, but didn't come very close. I ended up setting the cracker down just outside the screen door. He came over and took it then.

I fed him three more crackers, all of which he took from my fingers. :)