Are you jerking my tail?
What is it about humans that takes pleasure in messing with other animals? I’m not talking about messing with other people so much. I’m talking about messing with what some people would call lesser animals. I don’t condone hurting animals, but I get a great deal of pleasure from messing with them in a rather harmless fashion. Pets make the most common fun, but wild animals are a rare treat.
The point was brought to my attention today while leaving work. I stepped out the door and passed a trash can with a lid like roof above it to keep the water out. I heard a rustle from within the can that could only be the result of an animal. I assumed it was one of the gray squirrels that inhabit campus. For some reason I enjoy teasing rodents, pigeons, and seagulls. I kicked the bottom of the can, causing the squirrel to shoot out of the top. He took his prone stance on the ground 7 feet away and glared at me as if he knew what happened. Normally it would bark, but the squirrels on campus are indeed very tame. I laughed.
On previous occasions I have accidentally snuck up behind squirrels and ground hogs without their notice. Most of the rodents around here are very tame. You almost have to push them off the sidewalk with your foot. I generally yell “HAAAY SQUIRREL!!,” or some such thing, at the animal from less than 5 feet away. You get the most curious reactions. I had one squirrel clear a 2 foot circle of all leaves in 1.5 seconds before shooting towards the nearest tree. The most fun though had to be the time a scared a ground hog. I don’t think that anything matches the hilarity of a ground hog, plump for fall, hauling ass across a grassy lawn. The undulations of the winter fat stores almost made me collapse.
The point was brought to my attention today while leaving work. I stepped out the door and passed a trash can with a lid like roof above it to keep the water out. I heard a rustle from within the can that could only be the result of an animal. I assumed it was one of the gray squirrels that inhabit campus. For some reason I enjoy teasing rodents, pigeons, and seagulls. I kicked the bottom of the can, causing the squirrel to shoot out of the top. He took his prone stance on the ground 7 feet away and glared at me as if he knew what happened. Normally it would bark, but the squirrels on campus are indeed very tame. I laughed.
On previous occasions I have accidentally snuck up behind squirrels and ground hogs without their notice. Most of the rodents around here are very tame. You almost have to push them off the sidewalk with your foot. I generally yell “HAAAY SQUIRREL!!,” or some such thing, at the animal from less than 5 feet away. You get the most curious reactions. I had one squirrel clear a 2 foot circle of all leaves in 1.5 seconds before shooting towards the nearest tree. The most fun though had to be the time a scared a ground hog. I don’t think that anything matches the hilarity of a ground hog, plump for fall, hauling ass across a grassy lawn. The undulations of the winter fat stores almost made me collapse.
posted by Lucky Bob at
10:56 PM
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