Thoughts from Crow Cottage (My Main Blog.)
crowbelle's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rocky The Swimming Squirrel ROCKY, THE SWIMMING SQUIRREL - REDUX For readers who don't remember my story a few entries ago, about the squirrel who mysteriously appeared on my husband's lobster boat in Marblehead harbour, read this. Now, all has been (relatively) sane and normal for Paul the Lobsterman lately. He only missed maybe one or two days due to the hurricanes that have sent high winds and tides up this way, so he's been lobstering out on the ocean right along, with little or no tall tales to tell. The seals stole about 25 of his bait bags today, and that irks him no end, but tonight, when he returned home from work, he came in and said "Oh, there you are! You're just the person I wanted to see!" (Huh? I live here, I'm in my chair watching Court TV, as usual...where else would I be?) But anyway, here goes. He went out to his boat early this morning, put all his gear aboard, as usual, and who does he encounter, face to face, about 4 feet away from him, sitting on the very tip of the bow of his boat, but Rocky the Swimming Squirrel --- again! He MUST be Rocky The Swimming Squirrel, else how would he have gotten out to his boat again? He was soaking wet...again! Paul did not want the Rockster to scamper into the bilge of the boat, only to disappear and cause untold damage, so he got out his 4-foot long cleaning mop, and gently prodded him off the bow of the boat and splash, into the water! "Oh my god, Paul, you didn't murder Rocky, did you?" (No, friends, he didn't) Rocky swam over to the mooring buoy, and scampered his way up the banner (rope) back to the boat where he sat looking at Paul again, as if to say "Hey Buddy! This is MY boat...why don't YOU leave?" So this time, Paul stuck out the 4-foot long mop and pushed the Rockster off into the water once again! He then offered him the mop pole in the water and Rocky got up on it, like a bird would, and Paul then lowered the soggy sqirrel into his rowboat. He then proceeded to start up his lobster boat, and he motored down-harbour once again, pulling the little dinghy with the wet squirrel in it, all the way to The Landing float, where he let Rocky off at his stop! Can you believe this? Later that day, as Paul was hauling his traps out on the ocean, he met up with Hugh Bishop, another lobsterman, and they got to talking about the Rockster. Since Hugh hadn't heard the original story about Paul's Personal Squirrel Escort Service in the harbour, he recounted that previous event, and then told him about today's occurrence. Hugh laughed... and then remembered. He was around the point, in Barnegat, the other day when he saw something in the water, between Priest's Island and Brown's Island. He thought it might be a fish near the surface, so he went over to check it out. No, it was not a fish - it was a squirrel -- swimming the approximate 200 yards or so from one island to the other! Now my question to you, readers, is this: Do squirrels swim? Other than the Rockmeister, of course... I mean, normal squirrels who don't live down by the waterfront? Or is this guy an anomaly? I think tonight I'll go into Google and see if I can find out. If they are swimmers, then the mystery of the boating squirrel will be solved... he was just out for a day on the water! Go figure. Here at home, my local tree squirrels come to my deck each day for a drink out of the big water dish I put out for them. I guess squirrels and water are just inseparable! Cheers (for the second time today!) Bex 5:33 pm - 22 September 2004 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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