Abby, the Abert's Squirrel..............by Joyce Riley

 

When Abby, the Abert’s Squirrel,
Knocked at the kitchen door,
Grandma gave her a peanut.
Soon, Abby was begging for more.
“One peanut, two peanuts, three peanuts, four.
“You’ve had enough,”
But Abby still begged for more.
Grandma sighed and said, “Oh, well,”
And, soon, the porch was covered with shells.
One morning, while Grandma was sleeping,
Abby knocked on her window to say,
“Get up, get up, you sleepy head
“It’s time to feed me today.”
So, Grandma went out on her two bare feet,
To give little Abby her morning treat.
But, out on the porch,
Right before her eyes,
There were three baby squirrels,
What a big surprise.
One peanut, two peanuts, three peanuts, four.
“I’ll have to go out and buy some more.

 

Abert’s squirrels live in the mountains of Arizona.
Peanuts are not their natural diet
But, as Grandma found out, they do love them.
Their main diet comes from ponderosa pine trees.
Abert’s squirrels eat seeds from the cones, bark from tender branches
And pollen from dried cones.
They also sleep and their nests in the ponderosa pines.