Dear Kid,
All of the squirrels in our backyard are connoisseurs of the bird feeder (and by connoisseurs I mean they will eat any and all seeds that fall to the ground). Most of them have tried to climb up the pole to get to the feeders (it is serious fun watching them try to outsmart the baffle). Several of them have jumped from various low-hanging branches to the feeder (at which point Dad chops down the offending branch).
And one of them has figured out how to leap 7 zillion feet from the trunk of a nearby tree to the feeder.
Occasionally it misses or overshoots the landing. But most of the time it sticks the landing.
Dad has named the squirrel Wallenda, which is funny if you don’t know the meaning, but funny and clever if you get the reference.
The Flying Wallendas was a family (the Wallendas) who performed stunts and such in various circuses. They did hand balancing, high wire balancing, and other feats of danger. They were hired by Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus where they debuted in 1928—performing without a net. The net had been lost in transit and “the show must go on” and all. Yes, it was dangerous. Yes, it was crazy. Yes, they did it anyway. And the crowd went wild.
In addition to performing in circuses, various family members undertook various publicity stunts like walking on a high wire over Niagara Falls, riding a bike on a high wire, and crossing the Grand Canyon on a 2-inch wire.
And occasionally plunging to their death. Which was going a little off-script. In a bad way.
So far, our Wallenda appears not to have been injured by any of his jumps (landed or missed).
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