RED SQUIRREL

WHAT IT IS

It was a marvelous day for a drive and Margaret was easy driving along West Napoleon cruising to the Louis Armstrong International Airport to pick up Samantha Gallant who was enlisted by Davey Doucet to chaperone Margaret while she was in New Orleans.

Samantha’s small plane touched down on schedule and after some wild women greetings the pair were driving down Hwy. 10 back to the city. Beaver County banter filled the car until a dozen loud motorcycles surrounded  them, their drivers perhaps the ugliest men put on this earth. They endured an avalanche of cat calls and whistles, but eventually they roared away, Margaret noticing “The Chaps” colors on some of their jackets and, to her delight, their greenish work boots sitting high on the foot pegs.

Driving behind at a safe distance, the pair followed the gang to a rundown garage displaying a ragged New Orleans Flowers & Landscaping sign. Margaret stopped the car suddenly; the red squirrel was out of place in this part of the country and its abnormal appearance caught Margaret’s eye. The little dude was calm at first, then soon got agitated, pounding his feet and flicking his tail with wild abandon. This is about the time Margaret realized she was surrounded by twelve burly Chaps with dubious intent.

WHAT IT IS NOT

The helicopter carrying INSECT agent Cathy Jennings came so close to Samantha’s airplane that she could see a dark liquid oozing out of the fuselage just below where the pilot was sitting. She promptly radioed the helicopter, suggesting a landing at an abandoned airfield close by.

Parting for the airfield, Samantha saw the hummingbird hover above the goose for a moment then it seemed to follow the helicopter. Both aircraft arrived safely, a petrified Cathy Jennings crawled out the chopper and sat shaking uncontrollably on the grass and gravel runway. A surprised red squirrel rampaged close by in a pine tree and the hummingbird sat on the same branch amused by his antics. The hummingbird was banded with Graham’s band and as Cathy approached with her net she was overcome with the success she was about to accomplish.