I Love Squirrels

Another lovable squirrel.

I love squirrels: don't you?  If not, why?  They are cute.  Grey squirrels have little ears, a white belly, and a big, bushy tail.  They can walk and run, but they seem to prefer to hop.  There are several squirrels living on the grounds of my apartment complex.  I have fed them several times with pure unsalted nuts.  The first squirrel to discover the nut pile gets very excited, eats some, then begins to bury the excess nuts.  I love the way they eat: sitting on their haunches.  I threw a peanut to one, and he immediately got to work: spinning it with his paws while using his teeth like a can opener on the treat.  I realized that I probably shouldn't feed them directly like that, though, and I don't think I'll do that anymore.  They shouldn't lose their fear of humans.  All animals should distrust and fear humans to some degree considering how we have treated them throughout history.
There seems to be no shortage of people who bitch and moan because they put food out for birds and squirrels take some.  What do these people have against squirrels?  What did a squirrel ever do to them?  I've never seen squirrel poop, but I've certainly seen plenty of bird poop (much of it on my car and sometimes on my clothing).  Birds make much more noise than squirrels do.  Some birds sing sweetly; some are very repetitive when it comes to the sounds they make.  I'm not saying the singing of birds bothers me; they have the right to sing if they want to.  I just appreciate the squirrel for not being a loudmouth.  I only recently discovered that squirrels vocalize.  I heard what sounded like a bird, looked out the window, and saw a squirrel.  I didn't think that she was making that sound, then I realized that the noises were synced with the movements of the squirrel's tail.  The other day I passed a squirrel who was making some sort of a call as he perched on a tree branch.  I stopped and looked at him.  He saw me looking, then stopped his call as he stared at me.
"Go on, don't stop on my account," I said to him.
But he looked at me as if to say, 'I can't do it while you're staring at me.  Go away.'
So I walked on, and he went back to his call.
I got up one morning and saw what appeared to be a flash of fur right outside my window, so I went closer to investigate.  A squirrel was doing a tightrope walk on a power line.  Was it really necessary for her to do that, or was she doing that just for the fun of it?  I wonder.  At any rate, she made me laugh, and that's always a good way to start the day.