The wonderful squirrels that helped preserve my sanity during COVID.
(Single-click images for expanded view.)
Lots more photos here.
Fun Squirrel "Medley". (Accompanying music.)
Bonus: Squirrel Yoga
. (1/4 normal speed; silent.)
Bonus: Avian Interlude. (Silent.)
Interaction with the squirrels in my neighborhood has been and remains delightful. While certainly nowhere near domesticated pet
level, there is nevertheless a certain "intimacy of interaction" that is notable: My face can be literally within inches of theirs, I can hear them chewing, smell the crushed peanuts over the mild aroma of their fur, and feel the surprising warmth and softness of the pads of their little paws resting on my finger.
And I am touched that several consider me much less of a threat than other squirrels down below, towards whom they glare and vigorously chitter
their teeth. (In fact, I occasionally lean over the ledge with them, peering down and chittering too — in the spirit of general emotional support ;-)
The squirrels most definitely have individual personalities
, the main characteristic of which (that I readily notice anyway) being their level of calm in the presence of humans. In addition to individual differences, there are most definitely gender differences as well, with the females, on average, being significantly more relaxed than the males.
In the graphs below, I have attempted to roughly capture both the individual differences and the gender skew. As shown, while wide individual differences definitely exist, the calmest individuals are almost invariably females.
Additional Links:
- Hysterical (though squirrel fate sub-optimal...) story about a policeman and a squirrel on an episode of This American Life by Ira Glass.
- Great short video of a squirrel trying to climb a squirrel-resistant bird feeder. And another short, with different spinning design...
- Mark Rober (ex NASA engineer and lots more) has several wonderful 15-20 minute range squirrel videos including: "Backyard Squirrel Maze 1.0- Ninja Warrior Course", "Backyard Squirrel Maze 2.0- The Walnut Heist", and "Backyard Squirrelympics 3.0- The Summer Games". (And, entirely unrelated to squirrels, another 20 minute video by Mark of amazing new drone, including its ultra-speedy delivery of emergency medical supplies in Rwanda.)
- Squirrels At The Window A delightful set of videos of one woman's interaction with the squirrels in her neighborhood. Lot of love there 🙂.
Disclosure:
I wish I could say that I really made friends
with the squirrels, but unfortunately I fear that might be pushing it...
I grew up with Golden Retrievers; I know what true animal friends are.
The squirrels do not really reach that status even when very relaxed: They essentially never visit unless they want food, the instant the food is gone or they become satiated they leave without a pause or backward glance, they do not appear to make much personal
eye contact, they seem essentially neutral re human touch (via spoon or little brush — I did not risk my bare fingers for that...), etc. (Additional admission.)
Indeed, I am not certain of the extent to which they ever really associated the spoon containing peanuts with me at all, vs. the spoon being the food source and I being simply a non-threatening bystander
. (One particular squirrel and I engaged at one point in a tug-of-war with the spoon. :-)
That said, I still find the trust, of the ones that have such, touching — and their behavior and poses
overall quite delightful.
If I am being completely honest, I must, quite embarrassingly, admit that I have occasionally noticed within myself — in
response to their apparent lack of gratitude and personal connection
, and given the effort I make to reach out
and ensure they have a
regular stock of peanuts — an occasional fleeting feeling of being offended.
Yup, this is pretty much confirmation that I am
completely nuts (no pun intended) — offended
by the behavior of small, wild rodents...
Video and photos copyright © David Durlach:
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