Dead Squirrels

So, Prairie Lane (my neighborhood) has seen an incredible infusion of black squirrels over the last decade. When I was a kid, there were zero black squirrels in the PL neighborhood - but today, there are probably more black than brown squirrels. When I was a kid the only neighborhood that had black squirrels in Omaha was right around Westside High School. But, I have been doing a survey and these squirrels now are the dominant rodent species of District 66. For this reason, I am proposing that the Westside Warrios change their nickname to the Fighting Black Squirrels.

For those of you who do not know, black squirrels are not nice or friendly. They are mean and have been known to attack small cats, dogs and all brown squirrels. However, they are also pretty stupid - so there is significant debris left behind by the infusion of black squirrels. Within one block of my house, there are at least four dead black squirrels (and zero brown ones). More importantly, near the end of the block two of the squirrels are dead within five feet of each other - suggesting that they fell victim to the same force majeure. Dumb. If a squirrel gets hit by a car, shame on the car for not honking - but if a second squirrel gets hit by a car in the same place, shame on the squirrel.

Interestingly, I drove to Lincoln today and I did not notice many deer carcasses on the side of the road. Instead, I saw three opossums, two raccoons, three dogs, a cat (probably not a mountain lion) and a number of squirrels (mostly brown) and rabbits. What's up with the lack of roadside deer killings along I-80, I think the deer may be on a union boycott of hitting cars with their bodies. I did not see a "SHAME ON NEBRASKA DRIVERS - harvest what you kill" sign but maybe I missed the deer perch.