South Jersey Resident Shares a Cute Tale of a Squirrel Without a Tail

As I approach the age of 50, I've noticed that I've started talking to squirrels.

I mean, I'm not quite having conversations with small woodland creatures about the day's events and stuff. At least not yet. Allow me to explain.

I live in a sleepy little spot in South Jersey, probably a lot like your neighborhood. In my little corner of the world, we have your average assortment of animals roaming around. Geese, ducks, turtles, snakes, a few foxes, raccoons, and chipmunks. And squirrels.

A couple of months ago, I noticed one particular squirrel seemed to be always hanging around, not too far from my front door. One day, I decided to throw a couple of peanuts out on my lawn, which must have been the equivalent of Christmas morning for a squirrel, because he practically inhaled them.

And then I noticed that something seemed a bit odd about this squirrel. It had no tail.

Have you ever seen a squirrel without a tail? It looks a bit like a rat. Where his tail should have been was a small red nub. That had to have hurt. But even without it, he gets around quite well.

Me throwing peanuts out at the squirrel became a daily occurrence, so much so that, naturally, this squirrel needed a name.

That name: "Squint" -- or SQUIrrel with No Tail.

This ritual of feeding Squint has turned quite comical. It's not uncommon for me to open my front door and Squint is standing there waiting to be fed. Or even better: if Squint is over in my neighbor's yard when I come home from work, he'll run across the street, much like a dog does.

Now, I know this is where two groups of people are forming opinions at this spot in this tale (no pun intended).

One group is getting ready to send me angry emails about how I shouldn't be feeding wild animals and how they shouldn't become dependent on people looking for food and they carry diseases and whatnot. Yes, I know. I'm aware of that.

The second group of people is getting ready to send me emails, thanking me for caring for this squirrel, which happens to have suffered the loss of its tail.

I know that for a fact because I recently joined a Facebook group that's all about squirrels. I posted a picture of Squint to its 542,000 members and it has received almost 500 likes. Those folks have offered me a great deal of squirrel-related information, including other things Squint might like to eat. Apparently, I need to make a shopping list for the squirrel and run to Acme.

Now, truth be told, Squint is not a pet. He hangs around out front and when he's out there, I throw him a few peanuts. That's the extent of this. That's no different than leaving bird seed out, as far as I'm concerned.

And, yes, I do take a step back and laugh at what this has all turned into.

You see, when you're young, you think you're all cool and trendy and then one day, out of nowhere (and you might not even realize it), you find yourself talking to squirrels and joining squirrel Facebook groups where you can talk to other people about squirrels.

That transition from young to old happens pretty quickly. And there's no going back.