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There Are No Squirrels On Vancouver Island
by Chris Sorrenti
there are no squirrels on Vancouver Island
at least I didn’t see any when I was there
not in Victoria or Nanaimo
even a seven kilometer hike around Mount Washington
just outside Comox
failed to turn up any of the rodents
now at nuisance level in home province Ontario
where one can’t keep a garden or birdfeeder stocked for long
between them and the cats digging for China
eating the neighbours’ sunflowers
before they’ve had time to seed
tomatoes still hanging on the vine
with only one bite taken out
despite having been described by some as rats with a bushy tail
I’ve always found them cute
although a friend warned me that one had bitten off
the tip of a young girlfriend’s nose
I started feeding some a while back
a little bread and cashews
but they’d never get too close
till the day a whole family decided to move into my attic
turned my eaves trough into a freeway
on Vancouver Island
though I saw enough totem poles to last me two lifetimes
a black bear and some long neck snow geese
streams so full of salmon
you could walk across them
one about ten pounds decided to hitch a ride on my line
and at a distance what could have been Bigfoot
I never saw any squirrels
not to worry said my hosts Don & Julie
we’ve got something better in these parts
a nice surprise for you here up at Battleship Lake
too remote for cottages and powerboats
and where one can still see clean through to the bottom
like tree branches
we held out our hands offering gifts of cake
but still no squirrels came
the pristine silence so overwhelming we’d almost given up
then suddenly surrounded
scattered amidst the branches of maple and oak
a squadron of Whiskey Jacks had found us
their eager chirping welcome music
in an afternoon otherwise devoid of wildlife
one after another they began landing on our outstretched palms
and as long as there was cake they kept coming
© 2003
Photos © by author
1,390 hits as of November 2024
10/05/2012 Author's Note: Despite what this poem says, there are plenty of squirrels on Vancouver Island, though for some odd reason, I didn’t see a single one the whole week I was out there, but I got a poem out of it. The squirrels were photographed in Ottawa.
Posted on 10/06/2012
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Gabriel Ricard on 10/06/12 at 01:49 AM I remember seeing a bunch. Heh. Wonderful pictures, and wonderful poetry. |
| Posted by Jody Pratt on 10/06/12 at 03:24 AM I was going to say, I remember the place being infested with them when I lived there. Also, I love the pictures in conjunction with the poem. |
| Posted by Veronica Phoenics on 12/04/13 at 03:11 PM Read it with a smile on my face, all the way through! How well you tell this story, and the pictures made my day. Squirrels are adorable, I lived in London for ages and the parks are full of them and they do keep coming right up to your hand as long as there is food on offer. |
| Posted by Terry Olynik on 12/06/13 at 08:39 PM "I saw you, but frankly, didn't like the cut of your jib"
-Sid (Vancouver squirrel) |
| Posted by Gail Wolper on 08/05/14 at 07:40 AM Reading this was a blast! And great photos! |
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