As evening began to settle over Dana Park and the last of the day's light reflected off the bars of the jungle gym, Wolfgang turned and spotted his foe. It was, of course, the squirrel. That squirrel. He was easy to recognize because unlike the great big adorable fluffy tails of cartoon squirrels, this one had a sparse, ratty tail like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Most notably, at the very end of that tail was an almost 90-degree crook; a reminder of just who he was now dealing with. Wolfgang stood motionless, assessing the situation. The squirrel was about ten feet away from the great predator and at least twice that far from the nearest tree. He’d gotten careless and now he was in a pickle.

You’re not allowed to let your dog off leash in Dana Park, but people do occasionally set their canine friends loose to play if there aren’t too many people around. Wolfgang had been amusing himself with a Jack Russell, bouncing up and down on his heavy front legs and letting the little dog race around him and jump up to nip at his face, never getting more than a mouthful of thick white fur for all the effort. It was then that he caught sight of the hated rodent and froze. The squirrel dared not move or break eye contact, knowing that to do so would trigger the inevitable charge.

Somewhere in the distance, the soundtrack from a spaghetti western played…

The Jack Russell was oblivious to the drama unfolding around him and looked quizzically at Wolfgang, wondering why their game had suddenly stopped. A gust of wind blew a mini-vortex of dead leaves and litter between the two opponents, but still neither so much as twitched.

Then it happened. The Jack Russell, running out of patience, yelped at Wolfgang in frustration. The high-pitched noise was enough to make the squirrel rear back slightly, readying itself for flight. With that, it was on. The squirrel spun in panicked circles as Wolfgang surged forward, struggling to bring his bulk up to top speed. The Jack Russell, thinking the game was back on, ran between Wolfgang and the squirrel. As the bigger dog bore down on him he tried to stand his ground (as terriers will) but was rolled and nearly trampled for his trouble. Meanwhile, the squirrel looked around desperately for options. The trees were too far to reach in time, but behind him was a basketball court surrounded by sections of tall fencing. With no other options, the squirrel made for the nearest fence. Making it just ahead of snapping jaws as long as its body, the fleeing rodent scurried up the chain link in a flash. Instantly grasping the situation, Wolfgang dashed inside the court looking for where his elusive foe might try to go from there. Unfortunately for the squirrel, there were no trees close enough to climb onto and the next nearest section of fence began at least six feet from where the one he was on ended. Racing back and forth on this perch, he was safe for the moment but apparently out of options. Wolfgang reared up on his hind legs and brought his heavy upper body crashing onto the fence, the way polar bears smash into the ice in order to break through and snatch a seal. The metal fence shook and swayed. The tenacious squirrel held on at the top for dear life, but it was only a matter of time. When the dog paused to crane his neck upward and howl what he knew was his impending victory, the squirrel made one final bid for survival. Deftly racing along to the very end of the section of fencing, he hurled himself into the void. A small crowd of children and dog walkers had gathered to watch the life and death struggle unfold, and they oohed and aahed as the little rodent seemed to hang in the air above them. Wolfgang’s sharp eyes followed the trajectory of the impossible leap. One filthy little claw somehow found a link of fencing and the squirrel scampered up onto its new sanctuary. In a moment, it had covered the length of this new fence, climbed onto a tree growing through the other end, and disappeared.

Some of the children cheered the squirrel’s escape, but the dog walkers just turned in silence and left Wolfgang to lament his defeat in private. They knew. To add injury to insult, Wolfgang had turned a paw against the fence and was limping as we made our way home. I could sense his frustration, but knew he would recover quickly. There were pupperoni at home, and his momma, and his favorite little boy. And there would be next time. There would be next time.