Retraction

I'm finding it necessary to issue a rretraction to my earlier post. A PCV guard stopped his car in front of me yesterday, as I sat on the bench in flagrante delicto, surrounded by squirrels, with an avocado in my hand. I had decided to risk going back to feed the squirrels after discovering that some of them were in trouble. It was a different guard this time.

Oh no, I thought, here comes another interrogation.  As I started gathering up my things, he asked me if I fed avocado to the squirrels. Being caught green-handed as it were, I had to admit that I did. As I awaited the next blow, I guess I looked surprised when he asked me to make sure that I cleaned up afterwards, and threw any remainders in the trash, because someone had complained about finding a piece of avocado somewhere. I recalled the  pet-owner who had complained to me a few weeks ago that his dog got sick after eating something from the ground that was not kosher. I had sympathized with the man but assured him that it was nothing I had left there, because I always clean up after the squirrels, and don't even put avocado in the trash, but pack it out of the park.

The guard nodded and seemed satisfied. As he started to take off, it was his turn to look surprised when I actually thanked him! He probably wondered what that was about, but I was grateful for what I considered a more thoughtful approach. And I absolutely agreed with what he was asking for. I'm always conscious of the fact that my little friends can make a mess, so I tend not to feed them on the benches when people are using them, and I always clean the benches off with a paper towel, and refrain from throwing food into the trash containers, which could possibly be retrieved and strewn around the grounds.  

The Avocado Question

As I was saying, a man had approached me and told me that his pet dog got sick after eating something he'd found on the ground. That sounded to me like it might have been avocado, although it wasn't from me, because  I'm aware of the fact that avocado can poison dogs, and I'm very careful with it. Some people even believe that it's not good for squirrels, but I don't think that's the case. The squirrels I know do well with it, and most react to it like cats to catnip, going a little crazy for it. I believe they need some good fat once in a while, but usually reserve it for sick, injured and nursing squirrels, as it's quite expensive. And I'm careful not to give them either the pit or the skins, which could possibly cause problems. I usually feed it to them in little bites from a plastic spoon, and dispose of the rest when I return home.


More, please!