Squirrel Hunter

A couple days ago my nephew had a birthday party. He wanted to eat hotdogs around the campfire and ride the four-wheeler so we were all playing around outside. When I came up to the fire ring I found my little niece coming out of the “forest.” I asked what she was up to and she told me that she was hunting squirrels. She wanted me to come help her. She figured that with a stick we would be able to hunt one down (I don’t think she fully grasped the idea that with the stick she’d have to probably beat the squirrel to catch him).

I laughed a bit because (1) I didn’t think she’d be able to catch a squirrel – I didn’t even think I’d be able to catch one without some type of trap, and (2) because she figured she’d catch one with a stick. So, I told her that we’d probably not catch one because they’re too hard to catch. She replied that they are hard to catch because nobody ever tries to catch one – of course, that made me laugh.

I asked how she planned on catching one. She said that I could scare them out of the trees and she would smack it with her stick. From anybody else I’d say that was a violent idea, but since she’s only 6 years old it just made me laugh, again. I think watching Tom and Jerry has made her think that you can smack the crap out of animals and they don’t get hurt.

Maybe she thought the squirrel would become her friend after a proper beating.

This picture reminds me of The Rock in Walking Tall – a great movie, by the way. Intense huh? The picture I mean. Yeah, the movie is intense too, but this picture almost scares me – she looks so… intense!

(Oh, she never got a squirrel. Thank goodness!)