Squirrel Rescue

 I had passed the mid-way bridge without crossing because workers have it blocked off on both sides now - new lock and chain on the east and chainlink fabric stretched across the west. Anyway, riding up the west side of the channel I happened to notice some small movement down in that concrete chasm - a squirrel was down there, with the nearest escape (the only escape) for a critter that small a heck of a long way up toward the dam. Poor little dude, must have fallen in, I guessed.

I had seen hawks down in the channel before, and I suspected this squirrel would make a raptor meal soon enough if that little birdseed thieving dickens didn't get out. It would mean giving up the possibility of any real ride, but I was determined to help him escape and hatched a plan to get it done. By now Squirrel had taken notice of my presence and had begun running upstream, along the base of the east side channel wall; if I could just keep him moving that direction for another half mile there was a chance. I would still need to get him to cross over to the west at the access road, but we'd worry about that once we got there.

Now squirrels can pack some speed over short sprints, but running a marathon on those little legs is something else. I made sure to keep far enough behind so he would keep moving up and not suddenly turn in the wrong direction. It wasn't difficult, but after an initial burst of speed he began to falter and stops between short stretches of running became more and more frequent. From time to time, I yelled encouragements, like Go, Go, Go! and Allez, Allez! to keep him moving or, when his rest became a little too long, to get him moving again.

I was a little concerned about about what he would do when he reached the little seep of water, but Squirrel didn't seem to mind, running right through the wet, scattering some sparrows clustered around the water dripping from a pipe. We're getting closer, I called to him then, a little later, we're almost there! when I could finally see where the access road comes down to the channel. As we got closer I fell further back hoping he would cross over to the west side on his own. I had to lose sight of him for a while to get around the access drive, and I sped up, now hoping to get ahead of him. Peering into the channel, once I got around and back to it, I didn't see him over against the east wall, so I leaned over the barbed wire, and there he was. He had gone past the access drive, but at least he was on the correct side and all I had to do was scare him back down and hope he followed along the wall, make the right turn and head up to freedom. And that is what he did. Success. Rescuing squirrels, it's what I do in my free time. It might ruin the evening ride, but I figure that is a small price to pay. Once in a while. Maybe.

there are these four ravens who always seem to hang around the water facility below the dam - this one is the group leader, or is that Chief Conspirator