Carl Tyler's Blog

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So one of the things I see regularly in my back garden (yard) is squirrels, this year they look the fattest I have ever seen them before winter, is this a sign that we're in for a really cold winter this year, or is it just that my squirrels are finding a lot more junk to eat in the dustbins (trashcans)?

One of the biggest differences I noticed between British and Americans, is that the majority of British have a soft spot for squirrels and actually enjoy watching them, where as most Americans view them as hideous rats with tails and want to shoot or poison them.

How could this difference come to be? Is it that Squirrels were once English sympathizers during the war of independence (really a skirmish more than a war), or could it be that Squirrels are "evil doers" and running some terrible terrorist network, planning to slowly eat away at electrical cables to destabilize the American government?

I personally believe the rationale for this difference is a couple of things, one is the Tufty Club. Americans were deprived of lessons on how to cross the road, they neither had Tufty or the Green Cross Code man (who if anyone didn't know was actually the actor David Prowse that played the physical Darth Vader), this could explain the lack of pavements (sidewalks) in America, but also why Americans don't really show good road crossing skills. In the Tufty films and stories, poor Willy Weasel (yes that really was his name) always seemed to get hit by the car. Don't worry Americans, it is never too late to learn to cross the road, here are some links to Tufty videos and some pictures of the Green Cross Code man:

• Tufty, Willy Weasel and the Ice Cream Van
• Tufty plays in the garden, whilst silly Willy Weasel plays in the road
• Americans had Superman, we had the Green Cross Code man, we also had danger mouse, but he was a real superhero.

During my search for Tufty facts, I did find this interesting organization dedicated to scary squirrels, they have a whole section dedicated to Tufty, it's all lies I tell you!

The second reason I believe that Brits have a much higher appreciation for our little fluffy friend, is that Americans never experienced the Impossible Mission Carling Black Label TV commercial, surely if they had seen this they would hold much more respect for the little fella, sadly I can't find a link for this commercial.