Lately my morning coffee has been spent with our red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus for those of you who want to know the genus species name). Well, me with the coffee and watching the red squirrels run around and eat the sunflower seeds and nuts I put out. I love watching their antics.
My “regular” job, my paying job, involves lots of stress right now. COVID 19 has done a number on all kinds of businesses. It seems like everything is harder, takes twice as long, and results in more changes to normal things than ever before. Hence, I have started having my coffee sitting outside as weather and bugs permit, watching the birds and backyard wildlife. I try to ease into the day with lower blood pressure.
Red squirrels, much smaller than their grey cousins and weighing at maybe half a pound, are quick and playful, and actually quite territorial. They are prevalent in our Scotch pine forest; much more so than grey squirrels, who will actually drive out the red squirrels if they must compete for food or nesting areas. Originally red squirrels came to the United States from the British Isles, and live throughout much of northern Europe in pine and spruce forests.
Their coats and fluffy tails are a reddish -buff color, with the color being brighter in summer. Some will grow ear tufts making their ears appear taller than they really are. They seem to come around mostly mornings and evenings; it’s been hot here mid-day, so they tend to rest in the heat. They eat the pine nuts from our pine cones, often leaving large conical shaped piles of chewed up cone segments where ever they regularly sit to eat. Like most squirrels, they will eat whatever I put out to feed the birds – sunflower seeds, nuts, suet…. whatever they can sink their little teeth into. In the wild, they also nosh on fungus, nuts, berries and young shoots on trees. Along with the chipmunks (also very prevalent this year) the birds have competition for food. Left totally in the wild they will make a midden, or food cache, to help them get through winter. I guess mine are spoiled, as they get food from me daily.
Red squirrels communicate with a series of chirps, buzzes, with tail jerking up and down and foot stomping if an invader enters the personal territory of another. It’s really quite comical to hear them threatening and chasing each other about. The woods are abnormally quiet when I can[‘t hear at least one squirrel chirping or calling to another, and when they really get going, it’s a chorus of sounds.
Red squirrels do not hibernate so we see them year round. In winter, they often become a prey target for our local fisher, hawks and barred owls. They mate early in spring, and create nests made of grasses, twigs, leaves and bark in the forks of trees, or in hollow cavities. Usually we see 3-4 young per female, although as a species they can have two or three times that many. Babies are born hairless and sightless and actually stay in the nest being fed by mom for a month.
By the time they are 5-6 weeks of age they are playing in the trees and learning to navigate around outside. It’s this time when they are so cute – they come down to our feeders and patio, totally unafraid. We have to shoo them outside the fence before we let the dogs out, otherwise they are chased. They’re much faster than the dogs, and they learn quick to make a dash outside the fence or up a tree.
When they are 3-4 months old, it’s time for them to establish their own territory. And all of a sudden there are fewer squirrels around the yard, as mom kicks them out and tells them to get their own life. Sometimes there is a second litter, with their still being time to become adults before winter arrives.
Now I know they can be a nuisance. Yes, they can fit through a small holes, and yes, those little teeth can be pretty destructive. More than one home has ended up with chewed wiring and woodwork. Their nests can block chimneys. But even given all that, they don’t get into my house and I am entertained by their antics.
And their life lesson? Be prepared, put some food away for a winter day, and have fun when you can. Pretty good advice for the world today.
