Blackfoot Forest microwave popcorn

She paused again to sniff at a pile of droppings partly hidden underneath a bush, then moved on when they proved anything but fresh. Not long after that, she saw a flurry of movement ahead through the trees and stopped suddenly. Meerkat trusted Issorartuyok to take her cue and do the same.

Squinting, she made out the shapes of two squirrels fighting one another near the base of a tree. They moved like a whirling dervish, with a sudden outburst of chattering. Meerkat recognized the opportunity and didn't have the time to communicate with her cohort before bursting forward to try to take advantage of the rodents' distraction.

They noticed her and sprang apart with nearly comical speed. Each squirrel darted in an entirely opposite direction, leaving Meerkat to make a split second decision. She lunged to the right, snapping her teeth at a twitching bottlebrush of a tail. And missed.

She stilled and huffed, gazing as the squirrel rapidly scaled the closest tree. It began to loudly scold her, joined by its rival in another tree somewhere behind her and to the left. Meerkat glanced that way, then her eyes sought Issorartuyok with an apologetic smile and shrug.