Today I spotted some sort of
chipmunk or ground squirrel.

The little critter narrowly avoided Mudcat's roadkill thread
as it sped across the main street,
right in front of my moving car.
He cleared it, though.

Not a conventional tree squirrel with its plumed tail;
as hard as it was to see him for his considerable speed,
I could still see a really skinny little tail.

He was reddish-brown and probably a full-size ground-squirrel
but much smaller overall then the adult tree squirrels.

Those grey squirrels in the trees
can be seen in any park or public garden,

but the little ground squirrel, hereabouts,
stays away from cultivated areas and
prefers the stands of undeveloped trees, woods, and forests.