The gray squirrel sat between the double yellow lines in the middle of the roadway staring down at its unmoving mate. Even as cars passed by on both sides the surviving half of the pair did not so much as flinch and I wondered if it new - or cared - it was courting the same fate as its mate.
Did the surviving squirrel understand what had happened or was it expecting its partner to wake from a snooze and dash off in continuation of a game of hide and seek? Thinking perhaps squirrels mate for life and that the one still alive would eventually choose to walk out in front of another vehicle I checked in with Dr. Google when I got home.
Apparently squirrels do not establish lifetime partnerships. This discovery only left me more perplexed as to why the one squirrel should have remained in harm's way hovering over the deceased partner.
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