Well, she finally got one in her clutches.

Those are battle stains, folks. Every morning we walk up this greenbelt to the west of the freeway and back. There are usually a number of squirrels, but also a lot of trees. She is lightening quick and is usually almost on them before they scurry up trees. Well, today one messed up. The springtime grass is tall, so rather than chasing it into the grass she stopped and listened. When it fell off the trunk of the tree she was into the grass in a two foot high, three foot horizontal bound. Right on top of it. It got clear, onto the next tree but by this time must have been too scarred to get a good grip. Fell of that tree, then another, and Nuke was on it again. Then there was some darting back & forth, a little contact here and there, but as soon as it began running across the street in a straight line she was on it in an instant, and out in the clear.

She ultimately couldn’t hold it and it got away, so I have no idea the extent of the injury to the squirrel (first you learn to catch, then to kill). She gave pursuit immediately, but It finally made it successfully up a tree. She had a bit of a small cut on her snout, either from a bite or a claw, but it’s hard to even see, now.

Good girl, Nuke. She has many talents.