The "Tail" of Joe

Several months ago, while hanging out at my parents' house, we noticed a squirrel in their backyard.  Tess was thrilled, watching it for a long time as it ran along the top of their fence and jumped back and forth in the trees.  Tess decided to name the squirrel "Joe".  From then on, we kept an eye out for Joe, and soon, my dad started leaving nuts out for him.  Or her.  We can't say with any certainty that Joe isn't actually Josephine.  He/she is a very modest squirrel.  :)  

Joe quickly learned that my parents' house was a suburban haven of nuts, and he began to visit more regularly.  Although, we're also not sure that Joe isn't several squirrels, and that word got out in the squirrel community that the Nelson house was the place to visit.  Either way, as Dad left nuts closer and closer to the house, eventually Joe was feasting bravely right outside the door to the backyard.  Joe will now come right up to the window and look inside, reminding my parents of their duty to feed him.  He's even come within a few feet of us while we sat outside on the porch.  Ah, the power of nuts!  ;)  

Last Thanksgiving, while we feasted around Mom and Dad's table, we started joking that Joe was going to show up with his family, expecting an especially big pile of nuts.  Literally just a few minutes later, Joe was on the porch with three other squirrels, looking for nuts!  It was hilarious and crazy!  Joe is obviously of above average intelligence.  Or he's had Mom and Dad's house bugged.  

Maddie has a stuffed squirrel that Tess loves to play with.  One day, she had it with her at Mom and Dad's house, and Dad decided to see what Joe thought of it.  He put it out on the porch with a little pile of nuts in front of it, and we waited.  When Joe showed up, he made his very careful way up to the stuffed squirrel, really seeming to wonder what the hell it was!  He got close enough to stretch out his tiny nose and give it several good sniffs.  Finally, he decided that it wasn't dangerous and that it probably wanted to share, so he got to work eating the nuts.  

I think we've all come to love Joe, or all the Joes.  And naming Joe was the beginning of Tess giving animals the funniest/strangest names: 

When we saw deer behind our house a few months ago, Tess named them "Hairno".  A bird that was playing in our backyard recently was named, "Stike".  She also drew a whale the other day that she named "Fokie".  Her names make us laugh and also feel grateful that we have a creative toddler around to make us laugh.  

Mom and Dad apparently are emitting a Dr. Doolittle vibe because yesterday they found this in one of their hanging flower baskets:

I wonder what Tess will name the hatchlings... :)