The one that got away...

Well, today I came closer than I ever have to catching one of those furry-tailed tree rats that infest my backyard. He was in the pear tree, which is no more than about 10 feet tall, isn't close to any other trees, is about 100 years old, and doesn't look like it would support a sparrow, let alone a squirrel (or a fat Pitbull, if you catch my drift). Anyway, I had him cornered in the tree and I was waiting under it with my mouth open, drooling. He was obviously nervous because he was darting back and forth on his little branch, just out of my reach, with his furry tail flicking back and forth. He couldn't stay up there forever and when he came down, he was going to be a meal. I could taste it already. I barked a few times to say, "You'll never get away from me, so you might as well just give up now. I'll try to make it as painless as possible." But then I saw him crouch down as if to jump. He couldn't possibly be thinking of jumping. The nearest tree branch was nearly 20 feet away. He'd miss and be Pitbull food for sure. Sure enough, he reached way down inside himself and gave it every bit of effort he could muster. He launched into the air, nearly breaking the branch off the pear tree as his little legs shoved backwards against it with a vigor only found in a creature fighting for its life. He arced high into the air, body outstretched, hands flailing, and as luck would have it, caught a tiny sprig of pine tree with one hand. He swung back and forth for a few seconds, trying to get a firmer grasp on the branch, looking down the whole time to see me still waiting with my mouth open. With a desperate burst of energy, he managed to swing his body up, grab the branch, and scurry off, laughing at me. But the last laugh will be on him. As soon as I save up some money, I'm buying a set of these. Let's see what those little buggers do then.