You expect that things will change when you move away from home for a year, or at least your perception of certain things will change. Squirrels were one thing that we did not see a lot if in India, most likely because the snakes and eagles would get them. I barely even noticed that they were missing, other than to once note their absence.

When we left for India, we left behind some pretty low-key squirrels.

They were of no bother to us, so for the most part we coexisted in blissful ignorance of each other. We have noisy small people, so they quite often make themselves scarce when we are out and about. Then we left.

The yard that we came home to was vastly different. The little buggers had had gotten bigger, fatter, and had taken over. They have eaten through our garbage can lid; have eaten the lid off of our green bin; have ripped all the padding out of the cover to the barbeque, putting many large holes in it along the way; and they have eaten the plastic knob off the igniter button on the ‘que!

I am pretty sure that they are the large animals that knock over the green bin every time that I turn around. There are way more of them taking over the yard and they have attitude.

It used to be that I could just knock on the window and they would scamper with their busy tails tucked firmly between their legs. Now the tails are mangy and thin, and they just look at me as I knock, then open the door, step outside, yell at them to stop destroying our stuff. Lately, the looks have been filed with disdain, and the only thing that gets them off the patio is me throwing a snow shovel at them. I don’t know what I am going to do when the snow melts… Sling shots are out of the question, right?