Lemondrop

It's one thing to bite the hand that feeds you. It's another to completely munch the heck out of the kindly old man who nursed you back to health.

Alas, some squirrels apparently have no sense of polite obligation. Like Elvis -- an English squirrel who "attacked" children's book writer Ernie Gordon like so many fleshy hazelnuts. Ernie adopted Elvis last week after the animal was discovered limping around the town of Alnwick, and was attempting to nurse him back to health when the shocking display of ingratitude occurred. Elvis went to town on Gordon's fingers.

The whole incident is particularly upsetting because Ernie is a noted British authority on squirrels. So really, in the end, it was cruel irony that mauled him.

The 75-year-old author is doing fine after being treated at a local hospital, but he and Elvis are taking a breather -- the squirrel is staying with friends in a nearby village, where he continues to recover from the broken pelvis that brought him into Gordon's care in the first place.