Perri and Her Friends
Deep in the big woods, high in a tall tree lives Perri the squirrel. She has a neat little home in a hole in the tree, with a little front porch, a roof overhead, and a stock of tasty pines cones inside.
Perri doesn’t spend much time in her nest. For in the big woods is so much to do. There are so many friends around.
Perri’s best friend is Porro, a boy squirrel. They often nibble pine cones together, down on their logs.
Porro has a nest of his own. But it’s not a neat and cozy nest like Perri’s. Porro’s is a loose, untiy nest made of leaves and twigs. No wonder it’s always falling down!
Porro doesn’t like to waste his time in nest building. He is a busy fellow. He keeps watch for the woods folk.
Sometimes he scolds at friendly animals, like Mrs. Raccoon, when she uses what Porro thinks is his private pool.
But mostly he warns his friends of danger. When he sees big hungry animals about, Porro scolds and scolds. Perri thinks he is very brave.
Porro keeps an eye out for marten, for one. Martens, you know, like to eat plump squirrels. And Porro warns Perri with a loud “Chee chee chee!” when then martin is looking for her.
Perri had some narrow escapes from that marten. He can chase her just fast as fast she can run. Oh, life is not always easy in the big woods!
There are great horned owls to look out for, and hungry bobcats lurking in the underbush.
But there are many pleasant things, too. There is always something new to see. mother hummingbird on her tiny nest, or other birds flying high. My, how Perri wishes that she could glide through the air like the birds!
There are raccoons with their baby, and timid fawns,
There are coyote pups, and snowshoe hares, and noisy blue jays.
There are busy beavers cutting trees, and solemn badgers, sober fellows who live in burrows in the ground.
There are spotted skunks and saucy chipmunks.
Oh, the woods are full of Perri’s neighbors and friends.
And the woods are full of things to eat; hardshelled nuts, delicious mushrooms.
Even dry sticks can be pleasant to chew.
There is nothing pleasanter to do than eating, Perri sometimes thinks.
And there is the change of the seasons to watch. Perri was a baby way back in the spring, peering at the world from her mother’s nest.
All through the bright summer she was growing up and having adventures too. One time the big goshawk nearly caught her, as she perched high on the lodgepole pine.
Then came the fall, and how bright and lovely Perri’s big wood looked then!
Her friends thought so too, showshoe hare and the rest.
But as the leaves turn golden and red, the wind blows them to the ground. And that wind turns chilly. Winter is near.
Perri runs home to the warmth of her nest in the tree. When she looks out one morning, the world has changed.
Everything is covered with white, for it is winter now. Perri blinks at the glitter of the snow. She blinks and then she yawns. For winter is a sleepy time in the big woods. And Perri fall fast asleep.
