Black Friday, Black Squirrels

Coming to the end of this Thanksgiving weekend, I wanted to write a quick note on something that I find more than a little disturbing. I'm not talking about the Black Friday sales, where half of the US population hit the shops this weekend looking for bargains, occasionally shooting each other fighting over discounted tat trying to help rebuild the economy through rampant consumerism. Although the Black Friday shopping spree was bemusing, Friday was not the black thing that disturbs me. Well, to what black thing do I refer, I hear you ask? I'm talking about black squirrels.

Most people in the UK think that squirrels are cute, fluffy little creatures of happiness, bringing joy to parkland. Personally, I have always considered squirrels to be rats with good PR, although we did make a yummy squirrel casserole last summer. If people in the UK saw the black squirrels here, they'd think again. These creatures look very sinister as they watch you walk past with a malevolant glint in their eye, pretending to be innocently nibbling on their nuts.

I can see through their charade of cuteness though. Unlike other squirrels, black squirrels are organised, carnivorous monsters. They've even been known to form packs and hunt dogs, as reported by the BBC. Yesterday, we found one in our garden: it was hanging around the bird feeder trying to bully chickadees and robins. From the image below you can see that it was preparing to pounce on my wife, its little nose twitching with murderous intent.
 

If you come to visit from the UK, beware these evil creatures of the night!