Baby Gym Rat 1?

Oops, I meant Baby Tree Rat (better known as a squirrel)...

Yesterday I arrived home from work, changed, grabbed a cocktail, and went to go sit on our front porch. While out there, enjoying the beautiful afternoon, I noticed one of the ferrell cats from across the street in our front flower bed. They are usually quite skittish but this one seemed intrigued by something... After I spooked it off, this little thing appeared on the porch right beneath my feet:

I called her Shirley, she seemed so docile and friendly (very unusual for our neighborhood squirrels) but then she was just a baby... She wandered around me for about 45 minutes, then headed out through the railing at the end of the porch, most likely (I thought) never to be seen again...

Michael and our neighbors arrived home shortly afterwards. Our upstairs neighbors have a Great Dane (I have posted about her in the past) named Audrey, and she loves to chase squirrels but never catches them. We were all chatting, when a family walking down the street started making a bit of a fuss. Michael (my own little "snoop dog") went over to see what was going on...

Apparently, Shirley was in the lawn in the front of the house a few doors down. The family saw her and got a little freaked out. Michael noticed that she (Shirley) was a bit distressed and wanted to see if he could help. She was very scared (of the cats chasing her) and when Michael found her, she jumped up onto his shoulder for safety. Then, as he was returning home, shouting to me to "get a box", Shirley jumped off his shoulder and onto the cross street, one house down from our's...

Audrey was out in our front yard and I was trying to keep her occupied by pointing to things in the opposite direction. It worked for awhile until...

The rest to come tomorrow, Over and "Out" from the wild kingdom, here in Portsmouth, VA