The Acrobat Squirrel

 Squirrels are funny little creatures. They climb a tree, bounce from branch to branch, and jump from the furthest branch to the next tree with impressive accuracy. I saw a squirrel walking on a telephone wire toward the roof of a house. He probably got on the wire from the nearby pecan tree. As he walked on the wire, he would stop, turn side way, and balance his body using his long tail as leverage. He walked another few steps and did the same ritual again and again. I kept watching to see how he would manage to jump from the telephone wire to the rooftop about a foot away. He moved forward slowly but methodically, repeating his liturgy every step. However, when he was closer to the roof than where he started his journey, he suddenly turned back and ran through the wire back to the tree where he came from as if he was running on level ground. Go figure!

I could not resist and gave a name to the adorable entertainer little creature, the Acrobat. But, as I think of Acrobat squirrel’s trek, I have some lessons.

1. Adaptability – Squirrels are good at climbing trees and moving around them. However, Acrobat saw an opportunity of getting to the next tree by walking through the telephone wire. To do this, he adapted his tree climbing and branch jumping abilities to balancing himself on a wire. The challenge of a new environment did not stop him from pursuing his goal.
2. Methodic and cautionary approach – Acrobat took his time walking on the wire, stopping every other step, balancing his body, and preparing for the next step.
3. Assessment – When he got very close to the next phase of his journey, he reassessed the situation evaluating his chances of jumping upwards to the roof. He realized that the risk of falling was greater than the chance of success.
4. Sometimes retreating is a good option – When he saw that he could not make it to the roof from the wire, Acrobat retreated to where he came from to do something different.

Those are my interpretations of what I witnessed from the Acrobat Squirrel’s journey. Unfortunately, I didn’t try to contact him for comments because he disappeared when he reached the tree branches. Nevertheless, I think we can enjoy the insights from the Acrobat Squirrel trek.