I suffer from Sciurophobia, a fear of squirrels. Yes, squirrels. It's not as funny as it sounds, trust me.

To document my fear, I asked a longtime friend to write a note about her knowledge of my ongoing aversion to the furry little bastards.

She wrote:

Why am I picturing the note for school our mom's used to write..."Please excuse Bethany from school today; she has a fear of squirrels."
Since I have known Bethany she has vocalized a fear of squirrels. I understand from what she has told me that when I first met her she felt she had a phobia of squirrels or at least a strong fear of them. As of the past couple of years she has indicated that this has subsided to an aversion and distrust of squirrels. She has vocalized that the fear or aversion may stem from a nick-name her dad gave her that enforced a feeling of being silly or "screwed up." She also has indicated that she would never wish harm to a squirrel, just doesn't want them too close to her.

In addition, I also asked friends to attest to their familiarity with my phobia here.

Some of their comments...

I Amanda, being of sound state and mind, do herby remember the blog writer saying a number of times that she is, indeed, afraid of squirrels.

(Is that what you wanted?)

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Yes, you have previously mentioned that you do not like squirrerls

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I can attest to having full knowledge of your fear of the nasty little tree-rats.


...and she's not kidding, either. Squirrels and the Hemingway Kat are NOT friends.

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Indeed I recall you mentioning your fear of squirrels...

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Yes. The Kat is afraid of squirrels. I know this.

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You have mentioned on multiple occassions your fear of squirrels. They can be nasty little buggers.

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I know you are afraid of squirrels. Sometimes, I can't help sending you the news reports...

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Squirrels are nothing more than bushy tailed rats with good P.R. They'd eat you in half a second if your back was turned. Don't trust the squirrel or his minions...

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It is a well known fact that you have squirrel fear.

Even if they are trained to bring tasty cold beers.

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You have repeatedly stated you do not like squirrels. I got bit my a chipmunk once...that sucked...did you know that squirrels have the bubonic plague? Oh yeah, there are some in Denver that have tested positive for it. They are a rodent after all...ewww

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I can, indeed, attest to the fact that Hemingwaykat has a paralyzing phobia of squirrels. I have taken advantage of this fear on a few occasions by sending her pics of them with lightsabers, guns, knives, etc. (If I really like you, I try to scare you. I'm sick like that.)

So yeah, she doesn't like the nut-hoarding rodents. At all.

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What about a squirrel in cute pink underpants?

So, to test my fear, I asked the same friend who wrote my note if I could come over and hang out in her squirrel-infested backyard for a bit.

On this particular day, the squirrels had organized to thwart my task completion, and there were none around at first.

However, one apparently did not get the memo, so he arrived late and snacked under a tree for a bit.

I can report that I felt jumpy and a bit uneasy, but I didn't run away shrieking in terror.