The Dilemma of Squirrels at the Dog Park

Hello Everyone,

I originally sent out this email on October 9th, 2014.

----------------

Squirrels are the best kind of rodent. They are as cute as mice, cuter even, with their hilariously quick, nimble hands, but don't do anywhere near the same amount of damage. They mostly stick to the trees, not the crawl spaces of your house, though there are exceptions. To most dogs, they are irresistible targets. Their bushy tails, and hop-along gait is the crack-cocaine of those with a prey drive. If it came down to eating a meal that would save him from starvation, and chasing a nearby squirrel, Arthur would be in a deep philosophical quandary. But it's not just dogs that are in a quandary. The squirrels themselves wrestle with a philosophical question. Namely, that food is more plentiful in urban environments, but so too are predators, specifically dogs. In some cases, the question is easy. Every university campus has gigantic squirrels who feed off the plentiful high-calorie food, such as pizza crusts, that is overflowing from dumpsters. Not a lot of dogs on campus, just some equally well-fed ravens and crows to contend with. These squirrels live the good life. Other squirrels are not so fortunate. The dog park at Lemieux Island is a perfect example of where the trade-off is most stark. First of all, it's a dog park, so yeah, there are a lot of dogs there. And boy, do they love chasing squirrels up trees. Those trees provide protection from the dogs, a fact that the dogs are acutely aware of. Arthur is not nearly so envious of humans and our big brains as he is of cats and their ability to climb trees. But those trees provide more than just protection. Lemieux Island is home to huge, stately oak trees, as well as a number of other nut-bearing leafy behemoths. If nuts are your thing, it's a paradise. And thus, the quandary. Is it worth living on an island of abundant food and abundant terror? Obviously, we can look at the situation and say yes, because we know that there are squirrels living there and the dogs just chase the squirrels, and never catch nor kill them. But I often wonder if, after being chased up a tree, clinging desperately to a high branch, waiting for his heart rate to come down from the upper triple digits, if some poor squirrel thinks, 'all the nuts in the world isn't worth this'. wes