My favorite animal has always been the squirrel.  Yes, I know they are just rats with a long, fluffy tails, but they are just so かわいい.  That is, when they don't make a noise.

Anyway, yesterday NHK (actually TV Japan) had a nature special on them.  Makoto, our one year old son, thought it was just the greatest thing.  He laughed and laughed every time they appeared on screen.  It was funny.

Thinking about this made me remember that at one point, I could draw the kanji for リス.  Chestnut 栗 rat 鼠.  Yep.  I drew it on a chalkboard in front of 20 Japanese junior high students once.  They were quite impressed.  Just don't ask me to draw it now.

Thinking about that made me remember asking some of my first Japanese friends if they had squirrels in Japan.  One friend insisted Japan had NO squirrels and the other said there were tons of squirrels in Japan.  Turns out for most of Japan, squirrels can only be found in the zoo.  Hokkaido (where my second friend was from) apparently is the only place they can be found in nature.