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07 June 2010

I miss the squirrel highway

I had a squirrel bark at me this morning.


We feed the squirrels regularly.  We have one, maybe two who will come, stand up & stare into the window (sliding glass door) when there is no food.  I'm sure they are saying, "Ok, i'm here!  Where is the food?  We are out of food ! ! !"  (I've not taken any pics of this yet, never have the camera nearby.  It looks very funny when they do this, they are so intense.)


We do NOT feed them by hand, tho there are a couple who probably could be trained to do that.  There are a couple who don't even back off when i open the door.  But we have been told that feeding them by hand is an open invitation to be bit. 


This AM at exactly 7 i had one staring into the screen (the door was open all night) & he barked.  Woke me up.  "Excuse me!  NO food!  Fix it!"


I couldn't begin to tell you all the different noises the squirrels make, usually when they are upset, but i rarely hear them bark.  


I know i've shared most of these pics before, but i do so enjoy them.  :)



This is an almond, not a raspberry!


 It was a hard morning!


Found one!


Well?  Are you going to put the nuts out?


What ARE you doing down there?

One of the trees we had go down last winter was part of the "squirrel highway."  The squirrels would start in a tree at the edge of our property & run & jump from one branch to another to get to our deck.  The tree that went down was near to the corner of the deck & one of its branches was a major part of the highway.  The squirrels still come, of course, but i miss seeing them run along the trees to do it.

Squirrels are very territorial.  I haven't seen as much fighting & the injuries yet this year that we saw last year.  I don't have any pics of Mister Three Paws either.  We don't know how he lost his R hind paw, but he doesn't seem to miss it much.  He gets around just fine.   

I was right in that our summer is almost certainly going to be hotter than we are used to.  Last year the hottest day (at 85.5 F) was in mid-July.  Yesterday was 81.6 F - already!  We don't generally hit the 80s until after mid-June. 



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9 comments:

Jessica Renshaw said...

I got a big laugh out of Mr. "Well-are-you-going-to-put-the-nuts-out?"

Just in the last few years we started seeing ONE squirrel in Long Beach. There used to be a book called A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I used to think of it when I saw him: A Squirrel Romps in Long Beach.

Now it's up to two. Just about every morning as I sit here typing I look up and see one running along our telephone wire. A little while later I see him running back. His daily commute. Sometimes he runs and after a pause I see another one running the same way. (That's how I know there are two.)

That's it. That's their Exciting Day.

I love wildlife, nature, anything God-created that didn't have an intermediary maker. Something direct from His hand. (Although a fluffier tail on our squirrel would have been nice.)

Kathryn said...

Hi Jes! I love the Mr. "Well-are-you-going-to-put-the-nuts-out?" pic, too, even tho it isn't as clear as i would like it to be. (I think taking it thru the screen door when he was in shadow put a lot of challenges on the pic.)

I lived in the same place in Costa Mesa for almost 15 years & never saw one squirrel. About two weeks before we moved one took up residence in the tree outside the office window. "Where have you been all my life?" i asked him, but got no response.

The first year we lived here, our little rented house had no trees & we never saw any squirrels around. Living at Sugarbear has made up for that!

The squirrels seem, from the little interaction we have with them, to have as unique & individual personalities as other mammals (like cats.) There are a few who are bullies.

I have noticed that squirrels down the hill don't seem to have as fluffy of tails as the mountain ones do. Except in spring. They moult & their tails get very thin.

Amrita said...

Your furry tailed visitors are so cute and your photos tpp. They seem not to be scared of the camera.

Nice to have them 'knocking ' at the door for nibbles.

We had doves to that to us and we scattered barley on the pavement for them.

Kathi said...

My dog would be going nuts! They are fun little critters. I don't know if I'd want them barking at me though!

Mrs. Mac said...

Your squirrels appear well fed:) Too bad about the tree. We have a few chipmunks that drive my dog nuts as they hide in our rock retaining wall.

Jena Webber said...

Great pictures! The squirrel is darling.

Kathryn said...

Amrita - i often have to use "zoom" to get pics - but the squirrels seem to have realized that if i'm behind glass or the screen i can't just reach out & bop them.

I feed the birds some, too, but haven't been as good about keeping up with that. They go thru it so fast!

Kathi - they do drive the cats nuts. Mac actually got his paw out between the door jam & screen once & patted one on the rear end. That squirrel went straight up! And spent the next hour chewing us out. But i think Mac had a satisfied grin on his face. :)

Mrs. Mac - our squirrels are fat! They eat fairly well, tho i don't think i feed them their favorites much (too expensive). I've seen chipmunks elsewhere in BB, but not around SugarBear. We don't see raccoons often, either.

Hi O.Mommy! Back from Berlin. :) Our squirrels are darling, & daring, & often irritating! but we enjoy them.

Rosemary said...

OMG, these are great - your squirrels are as persistent as my cats!! I think the "well.." photo is the laugh out loud one and I love when you share your photos!

Kathryn said...

Hi Rosemary! Yes, the squirrels are persistent, & they've a lot of personality, too. They often make us laugh out loud.