A Letter from Pax

Hello and Happy Fall to all of my Pease Park friends!

Pax here—your favorite Pease Park squirrel and now secret agent squirrel!  At least I hope I’m your favorite, but if you visit my park and are kind to my park friends, I won’t mind if you have another favorite, like the birds, trees or even another squirrel!  As long as you love and respect my park,  Pax will always love you back. We have to work together to share this small park ecosystem and keep it beautiful for all to enjoy. 

I have a big fall surprise for you, but first I want to tell you how much fun we had in the park this summer.  My fellow squirrels and I slept a lot in the shady trees, nibbled on leftover food on the ground and loved watching the little hoomans squeal in delight playing in the water feature.  

We enjoyed the colorful Pride Picnic and loved listening with little hoomans to storytimes with the Austin Public Library and Book People. I usually listened from the trees, but sometimes I would climb down and even strike a pose for selfies. In the evening, I retired to my tree and watched the basketball games, dance classes by Esquina Tango and the movies screened during Short Film Night before crawling into my nest for my nightly slumber.

It was fun, but it was also very hot! The hoomans called it a drought. There was no rain for weeks so you may have even seen me splooting on benches, branches, and walls all throughout Pease Park.  That’s a very scientific term to describe how we squirrels cool off and relax in extreme heat. 

Luckily, Pease Park Conservancy has a wonderful hard-working team of hoomans that water our trees and leave bowls of water out for canine visitors, and even wildlife like myself.

No matter how hot it was outside, they always brought us water every single day. They even used heavy buckets full of water to reach trees that weren’t near the sprinklers. 

Without my friends in Park Operations and the Pease Park volunteers from Pease Corps, many trees might have died. Birds, squirrels and other park creatures would have lost their homes and hoomans would have lost an important source of shade. So, on behalf of all of my fellow park squirrels, birds, insects, fish and especially the trees—THANK YOU PARK OPERATIONS and PEASE PARK VOLUNTEERS!!!!  You were the tireless silent heroes of the park this summer who saved our lives and our home.

I also made many new friends in the park this summer. The tiny hoomans loved the splash pad and the picnic tables were full every day.

This meant I was very well fed from the leftovers.  ‘nom ‘nom ‘nom.  But, a reminder to please not feed us and put your trash in the garbage cans and recycle bins because — hooman food is not good for park animals. 

I thought I would be sad now that fall is here and the little hoomans are back in school, but I’m more excited than ever! The temperatures are cooler, we got a little bit of rain, and I overheard my Conservancy friends talking about something called fall programming.  I don’t always understand hooman language, but I think it means lots of new exciting activities for all ages.  

In September, they will have Toddler Yoga with ATX Yoga Girl, Creatively Sober Art Nights, and live music during Pease Nights. 

October will bring Tapestry for a Luminous Tomorrow - a concert series in partnership with Austin Soundwaves and a Woodland Walk with Jill Nokes. If you look in the trees, you may see me following along on her walk.

Now for the most exciting part. My secret squirrel hat is ready and Agents of Discovery is here. The Conservancy hoomans have joined a special app so you can go with me on special missions to explore the park and learn about nature around us. To join a Pease Park mission visit https://peasepark.org/agentsofdiscovery or scan the QR codes on the mission intel signs in Kingsbury Commons!

 

Yours,

Agent Pax