Squirrels Part VI

High up in the treetops above North Hollywood Park. Sun has set over the western horizon while the last residual light lingers in the new night sky. The park is solemn. There are only a scant number of walkers. The outdoor workout classes have wrapped for the day. And the squirrels prepare themselves to rest.

What does rest mean, exactly, for a squirrel? Does it have one place that it returns to at the end of each evening, a comfy spot, equivalent to a human’s bed. Do squirrels have their own version of beds?

A squirrel lays back. Or situates itself in whatever position is comfortable for sleeping. Are squirrels most comfortable sleeping on their sides, their backs? Do infant squirrels require specific sleeping positions in order to avoid the terrible fate befallen upon some humans of ‘cot death’. Branch death? Trunk death? Is this a consideration or do squirrels just know exactly how to sleep and it always goes well?

As the squirrel is situated, is there a specific time that this is all happening? Not the generalization of dusk, but a real cold hard scheduled time. Do squirrels need to unwind at the end of the day? Does a squirrel ever settle in only to realize that it’s mind is racing a mile a minute and there’s no way sleep will come with the urgency we would all appreciate. Is this an issue for squirrels?

And when the squirrel does bed down - or offer its own equivalent of the process - closing it’s eyes to let the first waves of sleep wash upon its delightfully furry little body; does the squirrel think about that day to come, the times that have already passed? Does a squirrel want for anything, outside the obvious tenants of nuts and peace. Do squirrels fall asleep hoping for a plentiful nut bounty the next day? 

Would a squirrel wish ill of its enemy? Would it wish them well either? Does a squirrel take the time to consider events that are likely to occur that could render the squirrel’s existence easier? We could stockpile nuts. Fortify our barracks. Pad out the sleeping situation. We could improve. We could make life more comfortable…

Or does a squirrel not worry about any of these matters? Is a squirrel simply happy to make it to the end of another day? Belly full of nuts and branch full of friends and family noiselessly slumbering. Maybe a squirrel doesn’t want to be anything. Maybe it just wants to be.