The Absence Of Cute & Fuzzy...

I've lived here in South Florida for almost 20 years.  And while I have seen my share of the scaly, wrinkled, shuffling creatures living here... they're usually standing in front of me at Publix (plucking the exact change out of a coin purse).  However, on a recent tech scout, I realized how much Florida seems to be lacking in the "cute and fuzzy" department.

As I walked around, everywhere I looked something green crawled or slithered.  Hooded lizards ran past me on their hind legs, looking like half-sized extras from Jurassic Park.  Countless small geccos (we've all seen them) were underfoot everywhere.  Day-glo green Cuban lizards peeked from under their camouflage of foliage.  The ever-present alligators...only their eyes and nostrils visible above the surface of the lake.  I even took a photo of the most bad-ass iguana I've ever seen... 

I grew up in New Hampshire.  We had cute and fuzzy to spare... chipmunks, cheeks full of acorns... grey squirrels hanging upside-down to better raid the bird feeder... red squirrels, peeking from the eye-hole of your Halloween Jack-O-Lantern, gorging itself on the pumpkin from the inside-out.  Even the Gund-like fisher cat is so cute you almost forget it wants to eat your face off.

I know someone is going to mention that Florida has raccoons... stating undeniable cuteness and fuzziness.  I beg to differ.  In Florida, a raccoon will hit you over the head with a two-by-four as you take your trash to the curb, then run away laughing... trash bags flung over it's cute and fuzzy shoulder.  As you lay there, rubbing your head... you will see it flip you the middle finger of it's human-like, cute and fuzzy hand.  It will then dig through your bags, eat what it can find... then bring the rest of the trash back to throw all over your front yard.  Nothing is cute about a Florida raccoon.  And they have rabies.

I think we all need a little "cute and fuzzy" every now and then... it puts a smile on our face.  When's the last time you smiled when you saw an armadillo or a turkey buzzard?  In the meantime, I just found my new screensaver.