A Swimming Squirrel
I had not considered whether squirrels, that is tree squirrels, swim. I went for a walk on Christmas Morning like I always do along the South Platte River, part of the Mary Carter Greenway in the south Metro Denver area. While near the Denver Seminary where Dutch Creek meets the river I saw something swimming across the river. My first thought was a muskrat as they are rather common this time of year. Getting my binoculars on the critter I noticed something odd. The tail was all wrong, for one thing it had fur. The fur color was also wrong for a muskrat. I very briefly thought 'Beaver?" But again the tail was just not right. What the heck is this critter? Finally I figured it out. A Fox Squirrel swimming across the river, coming from the golf course side to my side. The squirrel would stop now and again and perch on one of the many rocks in the river and look around, seeming to be reluctant to get back in the water again. The squirrel was very wet and kinda made me think of a cat dunked in the water. Eventuality the squirrel reached the other bank and got up a tree. This was a rather entertaining thing to watch and witness, something I have not seen before.
