Close Encounters of the Squirrel Kind

Never, in all my born days, have I ever been so close to a squirrel. And I didn't have my camera to record this auspicious moment. In honor of the sun making its glorious appearance today, we decided to hike the lake trail at our nearby state park. We saw the usual: caterpillars, spider webs, a doe and her fawn. Then, it happened. As we were walking along the path, we saw a family lurking over a small ditch, taking pictures. Aha, I thought. Something is there. Of course we stop to rubberneck. It is the cutest baby squirrel in the whole world, and a girl is PETTING it. Now I'm wondering whether her rabies shots are current. We, of course, have been carrying a bag of stale foodstuffs to feed to any and all woodland creatures we see as well as those we don't. DD had been busy littering the trail with broken bits of old ice cream cones as we came along. Note: deer do not like ice cream cones. So, we offered some ice cream cone to the squirrel. No dice. He runs up the tree. He is however pointed downward, so we decide to return for a closer look. The family of the squirrel petter returns with nuts. The squirrel comes out of the tree, crosses the path, and TAKES THE NUT OUT OF SQUIRREL PETTER'S HAND. It was just like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. We offer more crushed ice cream cone to the squirrel. He refuses again. He comes up for a closer look, perches on DD's shoe, and starts nibbling. She and Daddy kneel down to pet the squirrel. Unbelievable! He then moves to my shoe, which I am strangely ok with, but then he attempts to climb up my leg. Here's where things get dicey. I don't think I yelled, but I am pretty sure I did some kind of awkward dance designed to remove squirrel from my leg. It worked, and no animals were harmed during the execution of said dance. Whew! We saw his baby brother or sister in a nearby pile of leaves, but never saw a parental figure, so we can only assume that they are orphans. After Nature Circle tomorrow, we may go back with some nuts to see if we can find him again. I will have my camera.