A week-old crazy squirrel story

I promised Jenn I'd write about this and I always try to keep my promises.

Last Wednesday was my night to stay at home and Get Stuff Done like laundry. Our laundry facilites are in the basement of our apartment building. To get to the basement, it's easiest to go out our back door. I head out to put the first load in while it's still light out. I started to head down the basement steps when I was startled by a little squirrel. I like squirrels and all, but I'm used to them being a little cautious of humans. The little guy wasn't scared of me nor did he try to run away. I stood there for a bit trying to persuede him to leave the steps but all he would do is run down to the basement door like he wanted to go inside. I finally gave up and gingerly walked around him with hopes that he wouldn't jump on me and sink his little teeth into me. There was no jumping - he just sat there as I got within a foot of him. When I walked out of the basement, I was able to shoo him up the steps, but he still showed no fear.

I didn't think about the little guy again until...

The timer went off for me to go get my last load of laundry from the dryer. By this time, it was well after dark. I open my back door and was greeted by a ruckus. I couldn't see what was making all of these funny noises, but I definitely knew it didn't like me being where I was. Finally, after scanning all around our back steps, I spotted the little guy crouching in the corner between our back door and screen door with his back against the wall. Eep! I thought I might have injured him or something, but he looked OK. No matter what I said, he just wouldn't move. This is very strange behavior for a squirrel! Anyway, I had laundry waiting for me so I let him be and retrieved it from the basement. To be safe, I walked around and entered the house from the front door.

And then...

I walked into the kitchen and found the back door ajar. Oh no! I didn't close it completely due to being startled by the ruckus! I thought for sure the squirrel was somewhere in the house. After all, all actions made it seem he was after me. Fortunately, he didn't come into the house and was still sitting in his little corner between the doors. I closed the back door very carefully to make sure I didn't squish him. I called Tony to tell him of the creepy squirrel and he said that strange behavior like that can sometime indicate rabies infection. Eeep! He came home shortly thereafter and the little guy was still in his corner. Tony decided that he was going to make him move just to make sure he was OK. Finally, with the help of a little nudging from a stick, the squirrel left his corner and scurried off. We haven't seen him since but keep an eye out for him everytime we take out the garbage.