The murky day drew to a close. Clouds hovered low all day, brooding, somber clouds seemingly intent on keeping out the sunshine and pushing the cold down upon defenseless Arkansas. I glanced out my kitchen window at the robins pecking sunflower seeds that had sifted out of the feeders. In a pinch, robins will dine on seeds if worms are hard to find. Then I saw it…a strange animal chummily eating beside the robin. My heart turned over. Was it a rat? But no, rats have long, ugly noses and this fellow had a round face and cute little nose. He was busily chewing and stuffing seeds into his cheeks. Could he be a chipmunk? But no, he was gray; not brown and he had no stripes running down his back. One tell-tail sign would be the appendage behind him. Rats’ tails are long and scaly and chipmunks tails are rather like their noses…cute. Before I could solve the mystery of the miniscule muncher, he disappeared. I mean, with a flick of his whiskers he went…somewhere. I didn’t have time to check out his tail because one minute he was under the feeder and the next, he wasn’t.
So, is he like the ‘possum, a winter time sleeper just awake from his nap? Never in all the years I’ve been here have I seen another animal like him. Maybe he’s newly arrived from some far away place, some mysterious place. Will he be under the feeder today? Will I ever find out what family name he claims? Like any good mystery, I guess I’ll just have to wait’ll the next chapter and see if it holds an answer.
Speak Your Mind