Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Little Lovelies

Today as my bus was crossing over Crowchild I spotted a gopher and got really excited. I love gophers! I know that they're really "Richardson's Ground Squirrels" but that has too many syllables so I'm going to stick with gopher.


I had never seen a gopher before moving to Calgary, probably because they can't escape the thick cold death that covers Northern Alberta all winter. The first time I ever saw gophers was with Jonathan and Marina Aicken at Fish Creek Park and we fed them pretzel sticks from between our toes.

It's as though Calgary has a million squirmy little pets. Pets that routinely get gassed, shot, and squashed by car tires. Now I understand that they are a pest and I don't really have a problem with people killing them. I know that their holes bust the legs of many innocent cows and elementary school kids. Even though I've rolled my ankles numerous times in gopher holes, I just can't stop loving them. I love their skittishness, their little whistles, the way the kick dirt behind them when they dig holes.
I mean look at him.
No really. Look. And feel the cockles of your heart warming.

8 comments:

Geegee said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Geegee said...

Consider my cockles warmed. You know what I don't like in the whole realm of Calgary wildlife? Those creepy black squirrels. Those little varmits freak me out.

Avey said...

AHHHHHHH!
I LOVE gophers so very much. Once I found one that I'm pretty sure was retarded. He kept running up to me and chasing me around. It was pretty fun.
And I used to love those big black squirrels so much, until I got a bird feeder. The poor little birds sat up in the tree chirping that their bellies were hungry while a big mean black squirrel ate all of their food.

Jamie said...

Oh how sad for the hungry birds! Jenn, I also feel freaked out by the black squirrels. The ones near our house are really mangy and have freaky bald patches.
Avey, do you still want to photograph gophers? I would be ecstatic to go with you...Baby gopher season should be soon and I know some good places!

DaveJenn said...

Warm my cockles?? Ha! Their little pelts should be warming my head with a nice fur hat!!

Jamie said...

you're a monster dave

Anonymous said...

Jamie, I love gophers too, but always felt a little guilty because they really are such a pest, I thought I was suppose to hate them. I love the way they stand up so nice and tall and look around. One day I was driving home from school and was at a stop light and was admiring these cute little critters at the side of the road, standing at attention and just loving life. The light turned and I started to drive just at the time this dear little friend decided to make a dash across the road. I jammed on my breaks, but only to the sound of a crunch. I felt sick all the way home.

Jamie said...

Oh Corrine, I knew you'd share the love of gophers! I'm sorry to hear about the squashed one but there are so many that it's bound to happen sometimes, even with the best drivers!

 
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