We have a neighborhood squirrel that we named “Fluffy,” and his favorite spot to sit is on our suet cage. I have no idea about how a 1-foot squirrel can get onto a 15-foot suet cage! Somehow he does it by jumping up 6 feet onto our deck rail, another 5 feet to our windowsill, and then 4 feet more to the suet cage.
One day, I was practicing a Gershwin song (“I’ve Got Rhythm”) on the piano, when I noticed that Fluffy came scurrying up to the suet. I thought that he was just getting a snack, but when the song was over, Fluffy went away. The next day, the same thing happened again – just as I started playing, there was Fluffy on the suet cage. Then the day after that, Fluffy was on the suet waiting for me! (He knew that Gershwin was coming up!)
I wanted to see if Fluffy would stay for a different song, so I decided that I’d play “Minuet in G” (by Bach). Then, in the middle of the song, Fluffy jumped 15 feet down, flailing, right off of the suet cage! I got up to see if he was OK, but Fluffy wasn’t there! So, I decided to go back to the Gershwin tune again. As soon as I hit the first measure, Fluffy came straight back! I wondered about this for a while. I tried it lots of times, and I always saw the same thing happen. At last, I came to a very strange conclusion: This squirrel somehow loves Gershwin!
