New squirrel in town

Another smart squirrel

Another Sunny Day

Yesterday was a torrential day of rain, which is very welcome after the long drought we’ve had. But does it all have to come at once? I blame the State Fair of Virginia for bringing the rain as well as a surplus of deep fried foods. Mmm deep fried twinkies.

I picked up some acorns from my mom’s yard the other day since we don’t have oak trees in our yard. The squirrels were very happy to have them and ate a few and buried many. I will most likely have oak tress in the near future.
Today is sunny and I picked up some more peanuts. The mama squirrel quickly found them and ate a few on the spot in celebration of good times!

Dog days of squirrel

 

With summer finally fading away, the squirrels are busy gathering and hiding there stash of food.  We can learn from the squirrels. They bury their nuts all over the place, so no matter where they are during the hard times, they will have access.  I have chosen to donate some peanuts to them, but it is a fair trade in my opinion. They provide me with much entertainment and a bond of some sort. I know they can survive on their own, but since we live somewhat in their territory they have become used to us (humans) as a food source.  When I feed them peanuts, they mostly eat them if I’ve taken the shells off. If I leave them whole they will most likely bury them.  Lately I’ve been gathering up acorns when I go on bike rides…. just to keep them on their toes.

Hot in the city

When the molecules speed up the squirrels slow down. It’s pushing a 100F today and the mini managed to eat a few peanuts before retreating to a shady spot in the tree. 

Man its hot out here!

Hanging around for pecans!

My day starts with a shot of coffee (while it’s still brewing) and then feed the cats and get our breakfast going. Coffee is always first on my mind. Just need a sip or two while I feed the cats and prepare breakfast. Mostly we eat steel cut oats that have been cooked in advance, so I just need to reheat them and add fruit and nuts.
Meanwhile I have a kitchen full of cats that are absolutely dying of hunger. I mean they are famished from all that sleep! While I am fixing their  food I peek out the window to see if the squirrels are out. They are awake!

We were running low on peanuts this morning, so I snuck a few pecans out of the kitchen cabinet! Shhhh. When I feed the squirrel whole peanuts she mostly runs off and burys them for winter. The pecans have no shell so must be eaten right away, even if it means hanging by your back feet like a bat. Got to make sure no one else gets them!  She is also a bit  greedy when the mini is near by, so I try to make sure they both get some.

The mini learns to open a jar

I’ve seen videos of squirrels running obstacle courses and other crazy stuff, so I figured I would start training my squirrels to do some things.
I am not really training them, so much as letting them use their little brains to figure stuff out.
I started with a miniature dresser with drawers. I put peanuts in the drawers and they quickly learned how to open them. They are a bit rough on the wood though. At least it keeps the Blue Jays from stealing the nuts!
So here is the jar with a few peanuts in it. I first used a smaller jar, but they wanted to just cary the whole thing up a tree.

Welcome to Squirrely Blogger

Over the winter, I noticed a squirrel eating some fallen bird seeds from the feeder. The snow was very deep this year and covered the ground for over a month. I started feeding the squirrel a few walnuts that we use on our oatmeal. She took to me soon after that and I began feeding her peanuts in the shells. Over time she began to trust me more and I started handing the peanuts directly to her.

Here is the first photo I think I took of her eating a peanut!

Later in the spring I noticed two mini squirrels in the tree! Apparently mama had a small litter of squirrels. They were much smaller and their tails were not very bushy. They also mostly ate bits off the tree such as fresh sprouting leaves. I think they were still nursing for while.

Eventually they discovered the Mulberry trees and took to them. It would take a while before they discovered the peanuts.