Redesdale was the officer; Parker, the enlisted man. If Redesdale did not kill the squirrel, he would never be able to lead. And had his family not led for 1,000 years? So we drove to an isolated parking lot, and Parker took the cage out of the trunk. He put the trap — “it’s me killing trap,” he said — on the asphalt. This was the place this animal was going to die.

The squirrel, large and dark gray with just a hint of red to his fur, wheeled around the cage looking for a way out. Then it made a piteous noise, a whee-whee-whee sound. Parker handed the air rifle to Redesdale, and he pointed it.

“That’s the, uh, trigger?” Redesdale said.

“That’s right,” Parker said.

The squirrel paused. Redesdale steadied the barrel over its head. Then came the shot.

“You’ve got it,” Parker said softly.

But he hadn’t.

“Is it dead?” I asked stupidly.

The squirrel raced around the cage, blood dripping from somewhere around its mouth. WHEE-WHEE-WHEE. The same noise.

“I know it’s bad when they run,” Redesdale apologized. I thought I saw the warm-vomit look in his eyes.

The squirrel kept running and finally stopped when it realized there was still nowhere to go. Redesdale once more placed the rifle over its head. POP! The squirrel fell on its side and shook, scrabbled and shimmied twice around the cage like a break dancer.

“They’re dead when they do that, aren’t they?” Redesdale said, sounding more Macbeth than Prince Hal. Parker assured him it was dead: these were just the death throes.

See also:

About 2,500 squirrel enthusiasts belong to the online group The Squirrel Lover's Club. This week you can do what they do year-round: honor squirrels. The first week in October is Squirrel Awareness Week, so maybe you can keep track of the number and the kinds of squirrels you see in your yard or while walking to school. Here's something else to be aware of regarding the furry creatures: There are 35 types of squirrels in North America. The most popular in this area is the Eastern Gray Squirrel.

Back to Redesdale:

“Can I, um, suggest something?” Redesdale said to the three women. ... “I was thinking ... it would be great to form a sort of mobile kill group.”

He added, “We’d get a lot of publicity.”

“And the fun of killing them as well,” Parker said. Parker and Redesdale laughed again, Falstaff and Prince Hal. This time the women smiled too, a bit nervously.