by Jamie

I am Della, a Delmarva Fox Squirrel. My name in Greek means shade tail. I live in Michigan that is where many of my species live. I have a nest that is 30 feet above the ground. I need to be careful because I have many predators such as foxes, owls and many other creatures.

One day last week, I had a great adventure while grabbing dinner. My adventure began when I was on the ground picking up seeds for my supper. I heard wings flapping rapidly over my head. Then I saw a huge shadow hover over me. Quickly I looked up and noticed it had sharp talons, light brown feathers, and a pointed up right beak, it was scary.

Swoop! It almost had me for breakfast, almost every animal tries to get me. I hid in a bush, which was prickly, so it hurt very much, I remained there until I was sure it was gone. Then I cautiously got out of the bush when I heard another animal I saw a dog like creator start chasing me. I ran so fast that I was running out breath. See what I mean about owls and foxes and other animals wanting to get me!

I ran into the deep dark woods, in which all sort of predators live and then somehow I guess I sort of lost my way. I could not really tell where I was going because there was no path. I finally came to a clearing in the woods; I was relieved. I saw this huge figure sitting on this four-legged creature, I thought it was only one creature but I could not really tell what it was. It had this long shiny object on its lap. When the figure saw me, it stood, up put the long shiny object next to his shoulder, and it went "Bang!" I ran as fast as I could because I feared that I was not going to live to see another day. I ran up a tree and stayed there for what seemed about couple of hours. I was not quite sure where I was going, but I sure knew I was not going back to the way I came.

I have many cousins that live nearby and I thought I would be safer living with them. After all, they are brave and I was nothing but a coward. So when I thought I could not go on another day, I saw another squirrel that kind of looked familiar and was headed the same direction. So I decided that I would follow him.

Denver, the other squirrel, and I became good friends and he taught me about the best way to get out trouble fast and how to prevent danger. Also he taught me the best way to find another squirrel's dinner. However, I thought that was stealing, so I went to get my own. Denver helped me on my way to my cousin's den, which was a hard journey.

Denver had a family and lived in a nice cozy burrow that was built into a huge oak tree. The next night I started off to make my own burrow, I wanted my own privacy. I gathered sticks, leaves, and mud and then I built my nest like I did at home. The only problem here is that I have one more predators, humans, who hunt me down. In our travels, we had seen a few more figures carrying furs that looked a lot like us. I was nervous because they might kill us. They also scare me because they are so loud.

This is what I did when I finally reached my cousin's den. I went out at night and kept quiet. Since I have really good eyesight I could spot predators and find my prey searching on the ground for nuts and fruits food. Unfortunately, I am not graceful like other squirrels. I fell out a tree while looking for bird eggs and luckily I balanced on my tail and landed on all four of my feet, I was built to do that. Good thing I had built my nest in less than a half an hour, but it was not very sturdy. I kept working on it and at last built three types of nests for the season and for the rest of the year. I did not hibernate, but I did sleep for several days in a row when winter came. It was hard making a new home but I got to know my relatives. They are a pretty colorful group! My adventure is finished I just wonder what dangers I might have in my new environment.