A big question for us has always been "why do we never see any baby squirrels in
our garden?".
We have dozens of these furry creatures who nest in our big oaks, then appear
at the feeders, chase one another up, down and around tree trunks, sit on our
deck rails gnawing through iron-hard hickory nuts, bury acorns hither and thither,
drink from the birdbaths, clatter across the cottage roof etc. . . . . . but they're
always fully grown, some very old with battle scars and sometimes even
open wounds. . . . . . we've just never seen a cute little new one. . . . .
. . . . . UNTIL ABOUT A WEEK AGO!
always fully grown, some very old with battle scars and sometimes even
open wounds. . . . . . we've just never seen a cute little new one. . . . .
. . . . . UNTIL ABOUT A WEEK AGO!
It's hard to show a size comparison because this little guy always comes to eat
alone - no parents, siblings or buddies apparently. He/she is about half the
size of the adults so I'm presuming perhaps several months old. I can walk up
close while it nibbles on bird seed and crumbled suet cake (have not seen it try
to tackle the feeders yet!), then it runs to this tree trunk and hangs out until I
move away, then back to nibble the seeds. Talking to it doesn't scare it away
either, it seems to listen intently to all I say!
This cutie is the perfect little bright-eyed grey squirrel - no cuts, scrapes,
missing chunks of fur . . . . . . . and sports a beautiful bushy tail.
Of course I know it will grow larger and look just like all the other squirrels out
there - but I do hope I can continue to recognize it and that it will stay in our garden.
there - but I do hope I can continue to recognize it and that it will stay in our garden.
I'm scattering a few tasty nuts under the feeder - perhaps it will then
know it's very welcome.
know it's very welcome.
I'm thinking of a name for this new visitor - any suggestions?
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What a cute young squirrel. It would be fun to watch him scurrying about your garden looking for the nuts you leave for him. I'm sure he thinks he's landed in the most perfect place! No creative names are popping into my head this morning - the only ones I've thought of are Frisky and Bushy-tail. Have a good week, Mary.
ReplyDeleteI love Frisky for the name - whether girl or boy - thanks so much Lorrie! I just hope Frisky didn't get blown away last night - it was awful here, we were under a 6 hour tornado watch with terrifying winds and pelting rain. Luckily no major damage for us - I moved everything which might have taken flight, however I wonder about the squirrels up in the tops of those big oak trees which were really moving.
DeleteI hope to see Frisky out there later!
Mary -
I've watched the babies play chase and come and go this summer. They usually have two babies and often you will see them playing in the trees. Believe it or not, the boys seem friendlier than the girls. Their tails are smaller too.
ReplyDeleteHow fun to see you young one. In the spring we have occasionally seen young squirrels scampering around our yard. Maybe call him Scamp. Never thought to encourage a squirrel to stay though. This reminds me to go check my fig tree and see if any of those scamps have taken bites among the figs. Off I go.
ReplyDeleteAll of our squirrels seem to be full grown too - the population seems to stay about the same all the time. We call one of our squirrels Pogo - cuz he is always jumping up and down.
ReplyDeletePogo is perfect squirrel name JoAnn!
DeleteWhat a cute baby squirrel! Glad you were safe from the storm. Here we had 7 inches of rain, flooding streets, flooded car rescues, fallen trees and power outages! Luckily for us our power remained on and since we are at the top of the mountain, we didn't flood.
ReplyDeleteWe saw on the news how bad it was in the Asheville area Penny. . . . . . Bob said he was certain you would be OK up on the mountain - thankfully you were. We have a garden full of small branches and twigs so will be picking up later (Bob is at doctor for his knee problem again), fortunately no power outages but the heavy rain run-off has changed the landscape yet again!
DeleteMary -
How cute! I've never noticed baby squirrels around here either...but plenty of adults!
ReplyDeleteHe sure is cute. Same things happens with doves. It's only lately that I'm able to tell the difference between the babies and the adults.
ReplyDeleteAw, that's precious Mary. Such great photos to remember it by when it grows into a bandit.
ReplyDelete"I'm thinking of a name for this new visitor - any suggestions?" - OK, I'm thinking weeaaaally weeally hard and so how about, "fuzzy tail?" .... .HAhahahhahahhah... I am soooo joking! Gotcha, didn't I? Lol. No actually Alexandra was thinking Mr. Peckles which I quite enjoy too.
ReplyDeleteYou know, never really pondered that before why we never see baby squirrels! I suppose its not safe for them to venture out. This lil creature is a brave one...perhaps a Marine squirrel in the making?