Making of a squirrel dog

[WV Sawmiller]

    Along about the time Bertha's hunting was in her heyday it coincided with my mother's clean up campaign. She had decided no limb that could touch her hair was allowed to remain so she was systematically trimming all the trees of any limbs to a height about 16-18 feet  which coincided with the height a 10' step ladder with a 5'6" woman standing on the top platform (You know - the one that says "This is not a step") and sawing with a 2' handsaw. It was pretty embarrassing to me to bring friends home and they saw these bare tree trunks with a tiny crown of green leaves and limbs. (She continued this up into her 70's until one day she kicked her ladder out from under her and my younger brother happened to find her hanging on for dear life and was able to right the ladder in time to prevent her falling. She will be 88 in April and I am sure would still be sawing if not for that traumatizing event .)

   It was early September and the scuppernong grapes were getting ripe in the back yard. Bertha and a gray squirrel had a regular routine. The squirrel would come steal grapes all day until we got home from school at 3:30 then Bertha would start barking and the squirrel would run the length of the old horizontal trellis until she got to the corner, jumped on to the connecting water oak limb then ran along the old fence line jumping from one connection limb to the next till she reached the tall pines behind our property. It was like a game until one afternoon I came home, heard Bertha start barking, walked around the house in time to see the squirrel jump off the grape arbor. He ran through a couple of connection trees until finally he reached a tree half way to the pines where he had to climb to the top and make a long leap to reach his next limb. I will always remember the expression on that squirrel's face when he jumped and realized Mom had cut his limb off that morning. From a height of 30-35 ft it knocked most of the breath out of him and Bertha was on him like a guinea on a grasshopper. She and the squirrel made several loops around the base of that tree and she was pulling hairs from his tail. He finally got up into the tree and over into the pines to safety. Bertha had a very happy expression on her face and the squirrel escaped so I guess all ended well for both.

[thecfarm]

WV Sawmiller,them squirrels must be out of shape from eating grits.  :D 
The ones on top of the light pole will jump from the top,make a very loud thud when they hit the ground and they are gone like a rocket with the wife's dog just inches behind them,but the squirrel gets to the tree first and is gone. One of these days,the dog will win. One of my friends was here and we walked around the pole a few times,and the squirrel jumped to the ground. He was shocked to see the outcome. Them poor things make quite a noise when they hit.

[WV Sawmiller]

   That one may have been out of shape from stealing all my scuppernongs. Many times they would jump out of a tree and hit the ground with Bertha in hot pursuit. I'd lose sight  of them then no barking and a couple minutes later Bertha would return and I'd say "There's no way she let that squirrel escape after being that close" then I'd see Bertha had a gray morsel in her mouth she was bringing back to me. Saved the expense of another cartridge on that one.

   I have seen squirrels run to the very top of a tall pine, poplar or cypress and jump out. I just knew it would break every bone in his body. They would spread out to create as much wind resistance as possible like a flying squirrel gliding from tree to tree. Every one I ever saw do that would get up and run. They are real tough critters.