Panic! At The Backyard Biome
Remi Kennedy
One day I was sitting in my backyard watching the birds, when I noticed my dog staring intensely up into a tree. When I went to investigate, I saw a grey squirrel perched there. Before I could think twice, the squirrel reached for a branch and fell out of the tree at my dog’s feet. She chased it excitedly while I chased her, yelling for her to stop. I finally caught her and took her inside, but the squirrel was weaving in my yard, seemingly out of it.
I called animal rescue to come, as the squirrel could not successfully climb the fence out of my yard. The operator said that sometimes squirrels can be disoriented at first if they’ve fallen, but that they typically recover quite quickly. Before anyone could arrive to take a look at the squirrel, it had proven them right and climbed out of my yard and retreated to the safety of the trees. I can only hope it had a full recovery and is now living out its life- a little more careful when reaching for the next branch.
Author Bio: My name is Remi Kennedy, and I am a student in Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph. I am currently enrolled in a field course investigating watersheds and backyard biology!