SL 2

For the most part, you can walk through the mountains and forests of Japan without fear of being accosted by wild animals. Sure, some areas post signs asking hikers to beware of bears, boars, or monkeys, but for the most part, you’ll find Japanese fauna to be as hospitable and unobtrusive as the Japanese people themselves.

Unless, of course, you give them a reason to start chasing you down, like this man did with this squirrel.

Thankfully, the person who took these photos didn’t have to contend with a whole pack of squirrels. Linguistic purists may insist that the proper term for a group of the animals is, in fact, a “dray,” or “scurry,” but we’re not sure Twitter user Onigurumi had time to consider this point as a wild squirrel attached itself to his leg on February 9.

If you’ve spent much time around dogs, you may have seen one do something similar when the animal is feeling a bit…let’s say “frisky.” However, this squirrel wasn’t in an amorous mood, although it was after Onigurumi’s nuts.

Specifically, it was attracted to the Japanese chestnuts, also called onigurumi, that the Twitter user had in his left hip pocket during his stroll in the snow. Drawn by their smell, the squirrel tried to work its way up to the pocket’s opening and the prize inside.

It appears the squirrel was initially involved in a territorial dispute with another male, and had been chased into the vicinity of Onigurumi’s footsteps. From there it picked up the scent, although the Twitter user points out that even if he gave one of the nuts to his clingy companion, their shells are too hard for the squirrel to crack, and it wouldn’t be able to get at the inner edible part.

Onigurumi admits that he’s at least partially to blame for the squirrel’s persistence. Even though he didn’t share any snacks with the animal, he also didn’t do much to frighten it away. His passive acceptance seemed to embolden the squirrel, which then started climbing up his right leg, apparently feeling it could use a change of pace.

By this time, Onigurumi was resigned to the fact that he’d essentially turned into a piece of playground equipment for the critter. And while we can all sit back and smile at the cute woodland antics, you also have to feel just a bit sorry for the squirrel, who came away with no treat and probably an even bigger appetite after all this exercise.

Source; Togech
Top image: Twitter (1, 2) (edited by RocketNews24)