Found Squirrels: Squirrel of Squirrels

This is absolutely the most unusual squirrel I have ever featured in my blog.

And Jesus said, "Let the little rodents come to me..." Credit goes to my mother for seeing this squirrel at the Episcopal church in our hometown. She also gets photo credit too, and lots of mother points for volunteering to be the weirdo in the church taking pictures of the squirrel stained glass window.

Seriously, does anyone out there recall any scene from the New Testament in which a squirrel was mentioned as a companion of Jesus directly before his crucifixion? I used the online searchable Bible and could find not one squirrel.

Don't get me wrong, I'm rather excited to see a squirrel in religious imagery. I've found all sorts of squirrels carved into the walls of banks, but my many years of closely studying relief sculpture in churches around the world has unearthed nary a rodent (although Saint Francis of Assisi often has a squirrel companion, at least when depicted on medallions).

But seriously, this is just strange.

Found Squirrels: Ancient Playground Squirrels

I found this little dude on the gates of the Ancient Playground by the Metropolitan Museum of Art!

There is a beautiful little iron gate that leads into the Ancient Playground (I think they recently renovated this playground?) and it's based on a few of Aesop's fables. Four little squirrels stand atop the gate, keeping watch over the wee children of the park. Well done, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation!