Some people hate ’em – RODENTS! They say. The Mr. finds them annoying and has even contemplated taking a BB gun to them because they’ve been eating our peaches, plums, apples, cherries up in the orchard. Some people don’t pay much attention to them, and yet others find them endearing. That would be me, ever since Spot showed up at This Old House.
Spot is a squirrel and he’s been here for a few years now… showing up at the feeder regularly. Sometimes I see him up by the horses or over by the coop, but most often I find his chubby little butt parked on the bird feeder, having his fill. It is because of Spot that we will not take a BB to the squirrels here – they could be family! They could be SPOT, Heaven forbid.
A few things you might not have known about Squirrels…
Squirrels pick a territory – that can range up to about 7 acres, and they prefer to keep the same nest. That explains why we’ve seen him here for so long now. This is his “home”!
Squirrels can smell food buried a foot under snow. Also.. they bury their food all over the place, and sometimes it’s stolen by other squirrels and even birds. Sometimes they’ve been observed faking a bury, meaning they dig a whole and then cover it up without depositing anything in it. It’s believed they do it to throw off others who potentially steal their cache.
That zigzag you see them do when running away from something is their defense mechanism for escaping predators like hawks, coyotes, snakes etc. It works well in the wild, but not so great with cars – so slow down when you see them doing that crazy zigzag.. they’re trying to get out of harm’s way.
The story of why US parks are full of squirrels can be found here, worth reading! I had no idea….
Most squirrels don’t live past their first year. The ones that do… tend to live to be around 6 at most. Their actual span ability various among the species, but some have the potential to live to the ripe old age of 24!.
We had a sprinkling of snow overnight before the coming storms this weekend. I’ve been prepping the coop and barn for cold temps and will fill the bird feeder again this afternoon. Spot has already made his appearance this morning, getting his fill of the cracked corn I put out there a few days ago. This feeder is right outside my kitchen sink window, so I get to see the visitors to the feeder quite easily.
Spot says Good Morning! Now go get your milk, bread and toilet paper and perhaps some peanuts for me, please!
