Out and about

October days pass, and winter grows ever closer. The oaks are dropping their acorns, and squirrels know the cold is coming. In the slanting late afternoon sun they scurry about, dashing across the grass when the children chase them, and rustling through the fallen leaves, hunting for the food that will sustain them in the months to come. But all that hunting burns calories, and the squirrels have to eat much of what they find. It's a hard-scrabble life, even for suburban squirrels.