The Death of a Squirrel

[Muse]

It happened yesterday. I was skating to my workout and there was a car double-parked and as I approached it, the driver took her foot off the brake, put it on the accelerator and moved off. What remained was a squirrel convulsing in its death throes. I was dimly aware that the creature had just darted across the street and it had instinctively stopped and hid for a split second under the back tire of the car. Unlucky for it, the driver simultaneously took her foot off the brake and the car backed up just a hair... enough to crush the little creature's body just enough to insure its death but not enough to put it out of its misery. The driver was completely unaware that this had happened. I stopped and observed the animal's agony, knowing there was little I could do. A driver going the opposite direction stopped at the stop sign facing this scene and I could see her shaking her head and obviously distraught at the spectacle. When I returned from my workout I tried to find a city agency to remove the corpse but they were closed for the weekend.

I am reminded of this poem:

The Fly by William Blake

Little Fly,
Thy summer's play
My thoughtless hand
Has brushed away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?

For I dance
And drink, and sing,
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life
And strength and breath
And the want
Of thought is death;

Then am I
A happy fly,
If I live,
Or if I die.

 

[theflyingpig]

Pathetic.

 

[DeliciousTacos]

1/10

 

[Lurknomore]

If Arthur Miller was a rodent...

 

[CrazyLazy]

2/10 cause I like Blake.

 

[MartyMcFly3]

The Squirrel by MartyMcFly3

Here I sit,
Hidden from the sun.
Little did I know
Life soon would be done.

For all I am
is a helpless squirrel
My life taken
by a human girl

The tire black
The concrete hard
Life just dealt
it's final card

Im sad to say
my lifes incomplete
for my final sight
was a guy skating on the street

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
2/10 cause I like Blake.

You don't like my musings? To me it signifies how in our age of technology people can be completely unaware of the consequences of their actions, consequences that can be awful. This incident doesn't suggest it so much as prove it.

 

[CrazyLazy]

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
2/10 cause I like Blake.

You don't like my musings? To me it signifies how in our age of technology people can be completely unaware of the consequences of their actions, consequences that can be awful. This incident doesn't suggest it so much as prove it.

To me it signifies that this isn't blog.anandtech.com and your musings suck. Your post doesn't suggest this as much as prove it beyond any doubt.

 

[Jeff7]

Calling a city agency? To dispose of a dead squirrel?

Pick it up, toss it in a trash can, and go wash your hands somewhere.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
Calling a city agency? To dispose of a dead squirrel?

Pick it up, toss it in a trash can, and go wash your hands somewhere.

That's what buzzards are for. That failing the flies will come and the maggots will be there shortly consuming it totally before the weekend is over.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Rubycon
That's what buzzards are for. That failing the flies will come and the maggots will be there shortly consuming it totally before the weekend is over.

Well if it's in a city, there won't be any buzzards.

But yeah, it'll be gone in fairly short order.

Calling a city agency to clean it up just seems like a waste of taxpayer dollars.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: Jeff7
Calling a city agency? To dispose of a dead squirrel?

Pick it up, toss it in a trash can, and go wash your hands somewhere.

That's what buzzards are for. That failing the flies will come and the maggots will be there shortly consuming it totally before the weekend is over.

Precisely. It's a fucking squirrel. Give me a pellet gun and I'd be shooting them.
Except squirrels are also amusing to someone like me, for they are entertaining in their ADHD antics. And on campus we have a few albino squirrels... think it's a family genetic defect, because one was killed by a hawk last year, and then I saw another one a few weeks later. They are awesome.

OP, don't fuss over a squirrel. But I do want to know what you would do if it were a bigger creature, say... a cat. If it was a dog I'd call some service to pick it up, but that's the line I draw. Anything larger than a dog I'll call in, but vermin are a good source of food for the larger birds I see circling overhead. I mean, gotta keep the food chain together somehow, right? Else they'll be dive-bombing pets in backyards. Can't have that now can we?

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: Rubycon
That's what buzzards are for. That failing the flies will come and the maggots will be there shortly consuming it totally before the weekend is over.

Well if it's in a city, there won't be any buzzards.

But yeah, it'll be gone in fairly short order.

Calling a city agency to clean it up just seems like a waste of taxpayer dollars.

When I lived in NYC there were buzzards. But they walked.

 

[Red Squirrel]

That sucks. What a way to go. Sadly squirrels become too trusting of humans sometimes, to the point they think we can't make mistakes lethal to them. My great grandma actually killed a chipmunk once by accident. The chipmunk was just hanging out on a chair as my grandma sat on it and the chipmunk did not bother to move out of the way lol. That's a darwin award right there.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
That sucks. What a way to go. Sadly squirrels become too trusting of humans sometimes, to the point they think we can't make mistakes lethal to them. My great grandma actually killed a chipmunk once by accident. The chipmunk was just hanging out on a chair as my grandma sat on it and the chipmunk did not bother to move out of the way lol. That's a darwin award right there.

WTF, I thought the OP said you were dead????

Shens on the OP!!!

 

[Red Squirrel]

Squirrels have more lives then cats. They go fast though.... took 10 of them to chew through a single copper wire. Best to try pvc piping next time... gotta sharpen teeth somehow eh.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Squirrel, squirrel,
Sitting in a tree,
Why? oh why,
Are you looking at me?
As I drive past,
Going rather fast,
You fall,
*CRUNCH*

Inspired by a squirrel falling from a tree in front of a friend while driving. He was rather upset at killing the squirrel

 

[DrPizza]

Squirrel.... tasty. I have a leftover squirrel that I packed for lunch tomorrow

 

[ballmode]

I'd kill all squirrels


Brits hate them

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Squirrel.... tasty. I have a leftover squirrel that I packed for lunch tomorrow

squirrel melts

 

[Red Squirrel]

That's mean. I'm calling peta.



Seriously though, I find squirrels and other rodents so cute and fun to have around camp I could never imagine purposely harming one. I remember at our cottage they were very wild and did not interact with humans at all unlike other places. I had one tamed to the point of coming to my hand, and walking on my arm and such. Was still very timid so could not get him to do ninja moves like the ones at the previous campground. Summers are too short here. They take lot of time and patience to tame but lot of fun to have around. Not sure about the squirrels, but the chipmunks also take care of most of the bugs so that's a plus.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Squirrel.... tasty. I have a leftover squirrel that I packed for lunch tomorrow

squirrel melts

I've heard that squirrel melts are tasty. Mine still looks like a squirrel; minus the head and tail. I'll happily feast upon it in front of my coworkers who may or may not enjoy seeing the sight.

 

[eits]

Originally posted by: Lurknomore
If Arthur Miller was a rodent...

were

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Jeff7
Calling a city agency? To dispose of a dead squirrel?

Pick it up, toss it in a trash can, and go wash your hands somewhere.

I was 1/3 way to my workout, 1/2 mile from home. No place to wash my hands. Also, I didn't notice a trash receptacle.

The animal had stopped convulsing within a minute. I figured call the city agency that picks up dead animals in the street. I've done that once before. Would they come for a squirrel? I don't know, maybe if it was fresh. Well, I'm not calling them now.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy

Originally posted by: Muse

Originally posted by: CrazyLazy
2/10 cause I like Blake.

You don't like my musings? To me it signifies how in our age of technology people can be completely unaware of the consequences of their actions, consequences that can be awful. This incident doesn't suggest it so much as prove it.

To me it signifies that this isn't blog.anandtech.com and your musings suck. Your post doesn't suggest this as much as prove it beyond any doubt.

My musings suck, proved beyond doubt. Sorry. I don't usually post blog or chat type musings or rants, but this once I thought I'd do it.