She may have been a grey squirrel, but it was the ‘tinge’ of brown mixed in that gave her the name. She showed courage as she made her way, a little hesitantly, to the peanut Mark held in his hand.
What began as a potentially risky move on her part, developed into something more, trust – a bond. In the past couple of years, Tinge has found that our home made a good ‘drive-thru’ on her way to a day’s work of digging, burying, and chasing other squirrels from her territory.
There were many times that we would glance out our side door, only to see her up on her hind legs looking through the window at us. She would follow us from our car after we got home from work…trailing behind a few feet. We would grab a handful of peanuts from inside while she waited on the porch - ready to jump up on our lap and even allow us to pet her as she nibbled away at each nutty morsel.
Tinge’s antics often made us smile, but it was her actions this past spring that totally surprised us. She brought her two babies to ‘introduce’ us. We had actually been worried that we weren’t the only ones giving her a few peanuts from time-to-time as she had been getting rather ‘chunky’…but it all made sense now. She was being a good mother and was showing these little ones the ropes.
In early summer, she began limping and putting less weight on one leg. We wondered if she might have fallen from a tree or was hit by a car. But things gradually got worse and as the weeks went on, she began stumbling, weaving, and falling over. Gone were the days of even jumping up a single step. We were concerned that if she couldn’t climb trees, she wouldn’t last. She became more hesitant around us, likely feeling more vulnerable.
A little research and a call to the local wildlife centre suggested that she probably had a parasite that was linked to the raccoon population in the area. It affects the nervous system and she was not going to get better. In fact, she was going to get worse. We were witnessing the quick changes.
We know that she is one of hundreds of squirrels in our neighbourhood (just ask Jacques. I’m sure he has a high-resolution webcam fixed on his birdfeeder!)
(not Tinge, honest!)
… but it’s hard to see any animal suffer. Thankfully, animal services staff gave us the opportunity to say goodbye to Tinge. And yes, there were tears…
As life goes on, the white-bellied baby of Tinge (we named him Starch) dropped by for a drive-thru treat today. And so it begins again…Tinge would be proud.
