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Years ago I visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and I've told various people of my passing an empty lot of ground squirrels[1], luring one up a chain link fence with a peanut, dropping my trail mix, having four of them seemingly teleport to the sidewalk[2], and having one of them start climbing my leg, which I considered far too tame.
'Monterey' is "mountain-king" in Spanish.
Today I'm in Montreal, which is French for "royal mountain", more or less. I was walking through Parc la Fontaine, and observing very bold gray squirrels. I had no food, but that didn't stop them approaching and looking expectantly, where squirrels from my childhood in Chicago would have been much more cautious about putting distance or a tree trunk between us. I walked further, and found three perched on fence posts like statuary. Two descended and approached, getting even closer; I got a photo of one just inches from my foot[3]... right before it started climbing my leg I could feel its little claws through my jeans I yelled and shook my leg and it was gone.
[1] Squirrel-like rodents living in holes in the ground, anyway
[2] There was a hole in the bottom of the fence, but I did not perceive them moving. Suddenly, squirrels, one on my backpack.
[3] It turns out my attempt at such a photo was ruined by the leg climbing; I actually had a blurred photo of leaves.
'Monterey' is "mountain-king" in Spanish.
Today I'm in Montreal, which is French for "royal mountain", more or less. I was walking through Parc la Fontaine, and observing very bold gray squirrels. I had no food, but that didn't stop them approaching and looking expectantly, where squirrels from my childhood in Chicago would have been much more cautious about putting distance or a tree trunk between us. I walked further, and found three perched on fence posts like statuary. Two descended and approached, getting even closer; I got a photo of one just inches from my foot[3]... right before it started climbing my leg I could feel its little claws through my jeans I yelled and shook my leg and it was gone.
[1] Squirrel-like rodents living in holes in the ground, anyway
[2] There was a hole in the bottom of the fence, but I did not perceive them moving. Suddenly, squirrels, one on my backpack.
[3] It turns out my attempt at such a photo was ruined by the leg climbing; I actually had a blurred photo of leaves.