'Squeaky' Striped Squirrel

Amid the green chlorophyll and clothes drying there is 'Squeaky'. She makes her presence felt each day around 8 am. She sheds herself from some sunlight and presents a playful sight on my terrace. She might be more familiar with the terrace than me.

I could have named her 'Sandy Cheeks' from the character of Sponge Bob Square Pants. But atmospheric diving suit ain't her thing. I could have even named her 'Scrat' from the Ice Age. But  she doesn't seem to be going ga-ga over acorn. So I preferred none and gave her the name 'Squeaky'. It is on the lines of sounds by the Rodents family to which she belongs. She might not even know her name, by which I keep calling her without consent, apparently. That means she doesn't even know me. Damn!

Though she recognises me as a frequent invader on the terrace with the headphones on. This picture is a breach of her privacy, being one of the multiple attempts. I am only interested in her IUCN status. 'Least Concern' it is. She has life long growing front teeth. She has stripes on the back and goes by the scientific name 'Northern Palm Squirrel'.

My mom doesn't seems to be quite impressed with her. She describes Squeaky as an annihilator, during the tea breaks. Not the mathematics annihilator. The reason being, Squeaky ate all the saplings she planted.

Though there are 5 to 6 squirrels, there could be even more, I call all of them as Squeaky to avoid confusion. I hope that they don't mind. It's just like, "Teetar ke do aage Teetar, Teetar ke do peeche Teetar, toh bolo kitne Teetar ?" You would never know the correct answer.

[ This reminds me of a song "Teetar ke do aage Teetar" by Asha Bhosle in Mera Naam Joker, also a good tongue twister.]