Category: squirrels

A squirrel treat

December 16, 2018 • 2:30 pm

by Greg Mayer

Pulling into the parking lot behind my office this morning, an eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) sat in the middle of the road, blocking my way. This is an unusually bold posture for a squirrel– they are usually darting across roadways and parking lots: perhaps it knew it was Sunday, and wasn’t expecting any traffic? (This parking lot is not much used on weekends.) After a brief defiance, it relented and dashed off, which is when I saw the object of its mid-road attention– a treat:

It’s chocolate covered, looks like it might be peanut butter inside, and about 4 inches in diameter. The “chewed” side seemed more definitely chewed, with tooth marks, when viewed in person, than it does in this photo. I went out about 2 hours later, and the treat was gone. Presumably, the squirrel came back and absconded with it into the woods, which is a better place for squirrels to sit and eat.

I’m not sure if chocolate is good for squirrels. Chocolate is full of alkaloids, and unhealthy for some animals. I do, however, vaguely recall that squirrels in Costa Rica will eat cacao pods off trees, and this abstract seems to confirm that recollection. The tropical squirrels are in the same genus, but a different species, than the eastern gray.

Reader’s bird feeder attacked by parkouring squirrel

November 18, 2018 • 2:45 pm

Reader Lee Eberly from Iowa City sent a video of a most enterprising squirrel. His notes:

Gotta love ’em!  Had not anticipated that when I installed the handrail. Sorry about the quality.  Shot with iphone through plastic and window.

The video, posted on Susan Eberly’s YouTube feed, came with this description:

Did you know that squirrels will try over and over to reach your bird feeders? Not just one, not just tens of tries, but hundreds. And, like our favorite gray marauder, eventually they succeed. PS – Yes, “squirrelly” does have two rrs, and two lls (I looked it up).

Squirrels on PBS tonight

November 14, 2018 • 2:45 pm

Yep, there’s a whole one-hour PBS show on sciurids, “A Squirrel’s Guide to Success” (including chipmunks and other relatives) on PBS tonight. Go here to see when it’s playing in your area.  It’s also available here after it airs.

To whet your appetite, here’s an excerpt demonstrating squirrel intelligence:

h/t: Tom

Squirrels can solve mazes: quickly

July 18, 2018 • 2:45 pm

Reader Michael: sent this video of a squirrel faced with a maze that has only one way to the nut reward at the end. This is from the BBC television show “The Super Squirrels”, which you can watch here (but only if you’re in the UK).  The observers conclude that at least this squirrel learns the maze after one try.  I told you they were awesome!

Tuesday: Duck and squirrel report

June 26, 2018 • 2:30 pm

The pictures in the duck reports usually come from the previous day, and here are Monday’s duck snaps. I have found that sexing these little buggers is no easy task. The best way is to pick them up and inspect (and squeeze) the genitals, or somehow force them to make a noise. Female ducklings will quack; males will squeak. (You did know that only female mallards quack, right?) But I’m not picking up these precious little bundles of feathers: I don’t want to spook them.

Look at how big they are! Their appetites are huge, and have to feed them twice as much as I did just ten days ago. Most of their down is gone, with only a little behind their wings, and those wings are growing. It’s satisfying to think that those little stubs of wings will get so big and feathery that in a few weeks they can carry the birds hundreds of miles through the sky.

Dabbling time! Mom watches with a weather eye as her offspring learn to feed themselves.

Looking good!

Satisfied, Honey gives them an “A” and moves on:

I have bonded with this duck; who would have thought that I’d feel love for a waterfowl?

I haven’t written much about my squirrels, as I haven’t been paying them as much attention as the ducks this spring. But I still feed them, and several old and young ones partake of sunflower seeds and peanuts. Here’s a veteran squirrel standing erect:

Today I tried an experiment. I had a bowl of oatmeal with milk, raisins, and a bit of sugar for breakfast. I couldn’t finish it, so I decided to see if the squirrels would like it. This one, at least, did!

More tomorrow. . . . .

 

Readers’ wildlife photos

April 25, 2018 • 8:30 am

I’ve received several batches of wildlife photos on the road, but haven’t posted them as it takes a long time to do the travel posts, which I put together in my motel in the evening. Today’s post, from reader Don Bredes in Wheelock, Vermont, is an easy one, though, as it has only two photos. Nice ones, too: squirrels (Honorary Cats™):

His notes:

The sunflower seed feeder is down for the season (more than once I have made the mistake of leaving it up too long), so during the day I feed the chickadees, bluejays, and a few more exotic birds on the deck. That routine pleases the red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), who trust their speed and reflexes to save them from the hulking creature with the camera. We have a single gray squirrel this year, too, heretofore seldom seen out here in the hills. He isn’t nearly so trusting. Eastern Gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) have long been common the valleys and villages, but only in the last two or three years has their range expanded to these hilly rural reaches.
Here in the wooded hills red squirrels are numerous, and they’re not looked upon kindly by most people. They do a great deal of damage to the sugarmakers’ sap lines, for one thing. And they will invade a garage or open barn to nest and raise a litter, chewing through any wood or screen that may interfere with their purposes.