My latest passion is squirrel hunting. We have a ton of them living in our trees and they are horribly annoying. They keep burying these walnuts in my yard that then turn into baby walnut trees. My mother didn’t believe me until I pulled one out of the ground and there was the walnut sitting on the end of the plant. The last thing I need is more trees so I spend a large part of my day digging up these buried nuts. Hence, the squirrel hunting.

My backyard is squirrel mecca because of one simple fact. Water. Yup, my little pond out back is one of the few sources of water around right now. (We just went 35 days without any rainfall which, here in Oregon, was a record.) We get birds, cats and squirrels who visit our water hole. So when I see the little buggers sitting in our tree out back, I quietly open up the back door and call Artie over.

I think Artie was designed to hunt. He’s quite simply amazing. Unlike some big old goofy golden retriever or lab, when he sees a squirrel, he doesn’t start barking or jumping. Oh no, my dog goes into stalk mode. It’s quite simply amazing. I’ll hold him by the collar and we’ll watch that little squirrel climb down the tree. Artie’s fir will stand on end and he’ll crouch down really low and hold totally still. Once the little bugger has left the safety of the trunk and is drinking away, I’ll release Artie’s collar and whisper “go gettum.”

Artie takes off like a shot – totally quiet. No barking for jumping he’ll make a low and silent dash for the squirrel. Unfortunately, he is rather large so the squirrel usually sees him coming and it’s a race to the tree. So far, the squirrel has won but sooner or later, Artie has to catch him. Instead, the squirrel shoots up the tree and Artie leaps after it. The first time this happened, Artie almost got the little bugger who only scampered part way up the tree. I guess it thought it was safe. Little did it know that my dog loves to climb trees (or at least try). Now, they are on to us and will scamper almost to the top of the tree and chatter at us. Artie will dance around the trunk, howling while the squirrel sits up high chattering. Even though the chase was unsuccessful, I’ll usually praise the pooch and give him some hot dog as a reward.

I figure, if I ever do make it to West Virginia, I can bring my squirrel hunting dog and fit in just fine. Maybe I’ll even bring him next time I visit Erica. You know how those Kentuckians love their squirrel!!