So it's not just my imagination, squirrels are getting immensely fat this year! One day during Christmas vacation while my sister was here, I took out the garbage, looked at the front yard and spied two of our furry neighborhood tree denizens sitting on my boulevard. They were busily munching something held precariously between their little paws. I say precariously, because their tummies were so large, their short little arms were stressed by the effort of reaching across their bulging bellies to grasp their treat!

They didn't so much sit, as they did sway back and forth like one of those punching bag clowns for kids. They were just so round! I made my sister come out to look at them and she couldn't believe it. Apparently in Montana, their squirrels have it a bit rougher, as the Magpies tend to scarf any food long before they do.

Now a new study of squirrels and their eating and living habits has revealed that indeed they are becoming seriously tubby! Apparently in parts of North America and Europe where winter has been fairly mild, the rowdy, rotund rodents are packing on the pounds, plus their thicker, winter coats contribute to that corpulent appearance.

It doesn't hurt that I've plied them with old apples, pears and oranges or stale bread throughout the Fall. I refuse to buy the little buggers corn ever since the year they got into the bag of it and polished it off in one day! I had purchased it thinking that they would stay out of my flower pots and leave the lawn alone if I purchased food for them. But the evidence made it clear that the only person in that unspoken deal, was me. Blimpy little beasts!!!

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