![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I was thinking, while on campus today, that it was the sort of day that really called out for fuzzy animal pictures. So see below.
The squirrels on campus at UT are fearless. (I'm told this is common of campus squirrels most anywhere.) I've fed them chips before, when I used to get my lunches at one of the food courts with outside seating, and today I ended up stuck outside (the classics lounge being taken up by some lecture) while waiting for my next class to start, because standing awkwardly around in the hallways is even less fun.
This kid appeared, full of cautious hope. I shrugged at him a few times--no chips, therefore no chips for you!--until I remembered that I'd forgotten to take the bag of dog treats out of my pockets after this morning's walk, so I still had those on me.
I offered one accordingly. Squirrels will eat most anything, right? And while they're liver-flavored for dog happiness, I figure 90% of a hard dog treat like this is probably going to be squirrel-safe grain, which cannot possibly be any worse for it than whatever's in those tortilla chips I used to feed them.
Squirrel accepted dog treat.
Squirrel tried a taste of dog treat.
Squirrel flung dog treat on the ground, and retreated several yards to scratch, groom, and generally look as if humanity had failed squirreldom once again.
I retrieved the dog treat, and felt only mildly apologetic. This is, in theory, a wild animal. It should be able to get its own damn food without my help.
At which point it returned, and tried begging again, and then rejected the dog treat a few more times. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, liver-flavored treat does not even get licked.
This is when I remembered that I still had a bit of leftover bagel in my backpack. Would asiago cheese get the same reaction as Real Liver Flavor?
Apparently not.
I went to class; the squirrel presumably went off to tell other squirrels a wacky story about some idiot human that kept trying to feed it carnivore food. And so ends a story for the day in which everyone is happy.
The squirrels on campus at UT are fearless. (I'm told this is common of campus squirrels most anywhere.) I've fed them chips before, when I used to get my lunches at one of the food courts with outside seating, and today I ended up stuck outside (the classics lounge being taken up by some lecture) while waiting for my next class to start, because standing awkwardly around in the hallways is even less fun.
This kid appeared, full of cautious hope. I shrugged at him a few times--no chips, therefore no chips for you!--until I remembered that I'd forgotten to take the bag of dog treats out of my pockets after this morning's walk, so I still had those on me.
I offered one accordingly. Squirrels will eat most anything, right? And while they're liver-flavored for dog happiness, I figure 90% of a hard dog treat like this is probably going to be squirrel-safe grain, which cannot possibly be any worse for it than whatever's in those tortilla chips I used to feed them.
Squirrel accepted dog treat.
Squirrel tried a taste of dog treat.
Squirrel flung dog treat on the ground, and retreated several yards to scratch, groom, and generally look as if humanity had failed squirreldom once again.
I retrieved the dog treat, and felt only mildly apologetic. This is, in theory, a wild animal. It should be able to get its own damn food without my help.
At which point it returned, and tried begging again, and then rejected the dog treat a few more times. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, liver-flavored treat does not even get licked.
This is when I remembered that I still had a bit of leftover bagel in my backpack. Would asiago cheese get the same reaction as Real Liver Flavor?
Apparently not.
I went to class; the squirrel presumably went off to tell other squirrels a wacky story about some idiot human that kept trying to feed it carnivore food. And so ends a story for the day in which everyone is happy.