Professional courtesy

I had my widish-angled camera with me so I was no more than eighteen inches from this fellow when I took this picture. He seemed no more inclined to leave the scene than I was, and it was I who decided the better part of valour was discretion -- he might have decided to scratch or bite me! -- so I backed away again. As my friends say, squirrels *are* just tree rats, with a pretty face and tail.

As I walked away I wondered if he was more used to human beings than I was to squirrels. It may have been a trade-off: I was expecting a picture, and he may have been expecting a bit of human food. I got the picture but the poor fellow got nothing from me.