Fat Squirrel Week

Have you ever heard of Fat Bear Week? It's this thing they've been doing for a few years, where the bears of Katmai National Park in Alaska get photographed as they're in the process of packing on pounds for their winter hibernation. They put photos of the bears up against each other, and people vote on which bear has done the best job getting fat to prepare for the winter.

Well, I've been out walking on our greenbelt trails recently, and I've noticed that the squirrels are trying to participate in this game as well. Each and every squirrel is really doing its best to prepare for winter. I see them all the time, and they're not usually this huge. These guys are all ready for winter to come.

I tried to get a picture of one to demonstrate, but the squirrels don't really want to sit still around a human, so this is the best I could get.

It's not a great angle to demonstrate the chub. You may be able to see some at the upper arms there, but that's the best it gets.

I think it's kind of funny, because most animals have this fatten up for winter instinct. We humans have it too. We used to need a big belly full of fat to make it through the winter, so we would pig out every fall to fatten up. Ever wonder why all the food holidays are lined up one after another in the fall?

Of course, these days, seasons don't mean anything to us. You can eat a banana in America...a country where bananas don't really grow...at any time of the year, fall, spring, winter, or summer. No need to fatten up for the winter, since food is readily available any time. Sadly, we all still have that instinct, so we usually fatten up in the fall anyway...then keep fattening in the winter and so forth.

I'm excited about this winter, because it's the first time I've had two winters in a row that I can fit the sweaters that I bought back when I was skinny, but never wore much, because I got fat. Wish me luck that I can keep that going, and avoid the instinct to fatten myself for winter, and I'll wish you luck as well.