Halfway down the Danube

Squirrel

We have lots to post about -- our trip to Belgrade, my trip to Timisoara, Alan's new molars. But we haven't been getting around to it. Mostly that's because we've all been sickish this week... not sick sick, but sniffly (children) or sluggish (parents).

So meanwhile: I saw a squirrel today.

Ah, I can hear the American readers' eyes glazing over. But things are different here. Romanian squirrels are a completely separate species. They're black instead of grey, and small. They are rarer, and much, much shyer than their American cousins. You can see a few of them in the larger parks, like Herastrau. But to see one scampering around on rooftops and telephone lines is like... mm, like a suburban American seeing deer in the backyard. It's not wildly unusual, but it's worthy of notice.

So there it was, running along a telephone wire near the intersection of Strada Paris and Strada Washington. Barely half the size of an American squirrel, more like a chipmunk really. Attractive shade of dark charcoal grey. Tufted ears, very perky. It looked wilder than our squirrels somehow, and moved like it was in a hurry to cross dangerous terrain.

High point of the morning.

(If anyone knows what species these guys are, I'd be interested.)

Posted by douglas at February 26, 2004 12:15 PM