This has been a great wildlife week.

1. I actually got to scratch a squirrel behind the earsfor a good solid minute the other day. I took advantage of squirrels' inability to drop a nut once it's in their little jaws, combined with the inability to leave a newly offered nut behind. This creates a mental conflict whereby the squirrel will sit there juggling two peanuts and trying desperately to stuff both in its mouth at once. It takes while for them to make the agonizing decision to leave one behind while running off to bury the other, which can be valuable squirrel-touching time. Of course, these are relatively tame campus squirrels, not tough street squirrels or woodland squirrels. But still...

2. Yesterday I saw a bluebird sitting on Simon's fence. It's the first time I've seen one in Michigan, though I knew that theoretically their territory extended here. Yep, there it sat plain as day, just being--bluebirdish... bright blue on the top half and rosy/white on the breast. If my day hadn't already been made, it would have been by that.