There are days for everything. Eat Pizza day. Walk your dog day. Call your mom day. Well, maybe I made that last one up just now, but moms appreciate those calls.
Today I noticed a tiny picture of a squirrel in the Search area along the bottom of my screen here. Curiosity aroused, I clicked on it and discovered it is Squirrel Appreciation Day. Who knew squirrels had a day to be celebrated and appreciated. Not me.
If you’ve seen my Facebook posts recently, you know I have an ongoing conflict with a very agile and determined squirrel that tries to eat at my birdfeeder. The rascal has a big appetite and can empty the birdfeeder in no time. It can hang by its toes. It can slither up the skinniest poles. It can find a way around the most complicated barriers I can come up with. I even used packaging tape to hold those barriers in place. Did it stop Mr. or maybe Mrs. Squirrel? Of course not. I have to admire the squirrel’s determination and ingenuity. And it appears, this is the perfect day to appreciate it.
So, let’s talk squirrels.
Squirrels are part of a big family of mammals. That includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, prairie dogs, marmots, and even flying squirrels. When I went looking on the internet, I found there are over 200 species spread across every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Not sure why Australia missed out on squirrels.
They have figured out how to live in all sorts of places – high in the treetops of forests, on dry plains with few or no trees, and right in your neighborhood whether that’s a farm like mine or a street in town. They chatter at you in city parks. They find nuts and seeds and treats students drop on college campuses. They probably live right in your backyard.
They are pretty good at navigating human-made hazards, like traffic, although sometimes they make a sudden turn or freeze at the wrong time and meet an untimely death on the roads. They sometimes hunt food in dumpsters and trash cans.
Squirrels are amazing jumpers that can leap up to 10 times their body length. I’ve seen that in action as squirrels here on the farm race through the tops of a line of trees. They scamper out on the wobbliest limbs and leap to a branch in the next tree that I’m sure they can’t possibly reach. They do.
Squirrels can crack open hickory nuts and walnuts that sometimes take a couple of hits with a hammer. They have four incisors – two on the top and two on the bottom – that don’t grow in and just stay that size like our teeth. Theirs keep growing, about 6 inches a year. That keeps their teeth good for cracking those nuts. They chew on hard surfaces to keep their teeth sharp and from getting too long.
Squirrels know to prepare for the winter. I suppose that’s in case they can’t find a handy birdfeeder. They hide thousands of nuts and seeds and then remember where they hid them. I’ve watched squirrels dig up nuts in various spots around my yard. Researchers say they remember up to 95% of their cache locations. And some of us can’t remember where we laid down our phones or keys a couple of hours ago.
Back to those teeth. Squirrels cause hundreds of power outages each year. We’ve lost power here at least twice due to squirrels. They will chew almost anything, including electric wires, often to their detriment.
Adult tree squirrels are highly territorial and usually live alone. This I didn’t know. I guess I watched too many Chip and Dale cartoons when I was a kid. I assumed they probably paired up. I’ve seen them running around together as though playing. But no, they build nests, known as drays, high up in tree branches. I’m sure you’ve spotted them. But squirrels are no dummies. During extreme cold such as we are forecast to have in the next week, they might find a buddy or two to share their nests for warmth.
Now that I’ve gone out and found all this out about squirrels, I do appreciate their industriousness, ingenuity, perseverance, and survival skills. I think I’ll go buy some corn to put out for my squirrel now that I have – so far – managed to block it from the birdfeeder. Of course, that is probably only temporary.
After this post, it could be you know more than you ever wanted to know about squirrels. But you have to appreciate them.
Do you like squirrels? What squirrel facts or stories can you add?
Comments 14
I do not like squirrels much. Did you know they can get “addicted” to rubber? We had to fix three vehicles because squirrels ate all of the rubber under the hood and undercarriage. They kept coming back for more! It took 6 months but I think we have it under control now!
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No, I didn’t know that, Kris. Nothing about that in what I read on line, but that is serious trouble for your cars. I guess compared to that, eating the birdseed isn’t so bad.
I think squirrels are interesting to watch. My dog gets her entertainment from watching and chasing them. Squirrels hide acorns and pecans all over my yard and in my flower boxes. They don’t go back and eat everything they hide because by spring there are new oak and pecan trees coming up in the strangest places.
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That was one of the things I saw when I was reading about the squirrels that I didn’t include in the post, Connie. They are credited with helping reforest the woods by burying their seeds and not collecting all of them. So, new trees do come up. But I doubt the flower boxes are the best place for a new pecan tree.
I’m not crazy about squirrels, which is part of the reason I got rid of the bird feeder after Mom passed. We rarely had birds, but we had tons of squirrels! Mom liked watching them, but I don’t. I decided I didn’t want to spend money on birdseed and the birds not get any. So, in the trash went the feeder. Plus, it was getting old and messed up, and the wasps liked it, too. Since I’m allergic to wasps, it was great reason to get rid of it!
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Sounds as though you made a good decision there since you had to worry about wasps and squirrels instead of enjoying our feathered friends, Trudy. Actually, there are plenty of seeds out there in the bushes for the birds, but I do enjoy seeing them fly in and out. I moved the feeder closer to my window but now I can’t see the birds under the feeder. So, I’ll probably move it again farther away from the house if I can keep it away from the branches where the squirrel could jump down on it. So far the baffle has stopped him from stealing seeds from the birds. So far.
I think they’re adorable. My office overlooks our kitchen roof, and I’ve been distracted many times by their antics. One squirrel, or maybe I’m just watching the same one every time, hides nuts in the roof gutter. I just love watching him. He’s very industrious.
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A true squirrel appreciator, Tammy. They can be fun to watch. Not sure how smart your guy is hiding his nuts in the gutter unless he wants them washed. 🙂 Or maybe you’re talking about something other than a rain gutter.
Squirrels can make us smile or make us aggravated. Either way, they are interesting creatures. 🙂
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They are fun to watch, Melissa. Once I was walking down the creek and a squirrel must have misjudged how far it could jump through the trees along side the creek. It fell out right in front of me. Fortunately for him, the dogs walking with me at the time were a good way ahead. The squirrel shook itself and was off and up a tree.
I like squirrels as long as they stay away from my home and yard. The squirrels can cause a lot of destruction. I read somewhere that if you sprinkle hot sauce or any mix of hot pepper spices that will keep them away. Don’t really know though.
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I’ve heard that too, Loretta, and my daughter has done that, I think, with her birdfeeder. My luck I’d have a squirrel that liked a little spicy hot with its seeds. 🙂
I’m like you… I have a love/hate relationship with my squirrels. They’re mostly a nuisance, but at times hilarious in their antics. One of them used to spend a lot of time on my porch rail, taunting Ollie through the window, chattering and twitching its tail. But they’re not very funny when they find a way inside the house. Several years ago they tore out an attic vent and took up residence for a weeklong battle of ownership. I (or at least my teenage son) won that fight. I also had an unwanted chipmunk once that made itself at home when I was having my basement redone. My basement opens onto the patio and during remodeling a chipmunk found a gap in the temporary wall and moved in. It managed to squeeze in under the upstairs door and wreaked pure havoc for a couple of weeks. It was hiding, then trapped inside, as the basement was finished! I finally found its hiding place in a closet and managed to chase it outside. I had every door upstairs and down propped open for a good escape route. For several months afterward I kept finding its stash of nuts hidden in odd places throughout the house….inside my stove, nearly every kitchen cabinet, all the closets, inside shoes, desk drawers, behind books and in the toy box. I even found several the following summer in the pocket of a suitcase. I can laugh now, but at the time I felt like Donald Duck battling Chip and Dale.
Thanks for the research about squirrels, Ann. It’s always fun to learn new things.
Stay safe these next few days. I hope the snow forecast is wrong. But if we get slammed, I’ll have plenty of time to sew or snuggle down with a few good books.
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I think the weather guys are pretty sure we are going to have a snowy weekend. I’m hoping only snow and no freezing rain or sleet. But some forecasts are saying 20 inches. It’s been a while since we had that much snow and I think the last time, if was later in the year when the weather warmed up and it melted pretty fast. Not the case this time. Oh well. The weather does what it wants to do.
Thanks for sharing your critter stories, Lavon. That chipmunk seemed to settle in. It must have had a way in and out if it hid all those stashes of seeds and nuts. They are cute, but as someone described them, they are just rats with a cute little stripe down their back. And poor Ollie being taunted by that squirrel.