Short Post For the Weekend

Sorry for the lack of posts this week.  We got a couple of nibblers willing to eat near eachother a few days ago.

Sometimes we get four or five squirrels at a time sitting in the little "rail boxes".

We also have a new regular. We call him "Norman the Doorman". He likes to stand on his hind legs and help me open the sliding glass door with his little front paws. Very cute! Of course I will try to get a photo of it.

Yesterday, there were a couple of little squirrels facing off on their hind legs on top of a neighbor's A-framed roof. All of a sudden, one jumped into the air and landed on top of the other squirrel causing both squirrels to go rolling down the roof like a tire! I don't have photos of that incident, but I'll post squirrel wrestling photos in a few days.

I have also noticed more squirrel fighting and chasing in general. Preggers is the aggressor most of the time, I suspect. This morning, I found bits of squirrel tail on my porch. :( Spooky, Scamp and Norman don't appear damaged in any way, but I haven't seen Preggers yet today.

Tomorrow is the last dry day before another storm system comes through, so have a great weekend, where ever you live!

By the way, these photos can be embedded onto other personal use sites.  Just click the arrow in the lower right and copy the embed code.  Commercial publications must obtain a license.

The Aptly Named Preggers

As I mentioned in a previous post, we suspected that Preggers might be pregnant again because of her mood.  She had been irritable, aggressive and overly protective of the peanut pile.  She also ate at a furious pace.

Well, she started showing.  She refused to turn her belly toward me for pictures, but she finally relented... a little.

Here's a closeup. She's definitely getting a pooch in her belly and her nipples are starting to show. When female squirrels are not pregnant, it's very difficult to see the nipples.

She wouldn't let Scamp eat on the porch. He acted like a cat burgler trying to get one of the guarded nuts, and then he had to eat in exile, off the dry porch.

Rainy Days

A storm has been coming through the San Francisco area, but it's been really strange.  It will rain cats and dogs, then be sunny.  Then we'll have another downpour followed by sun.  All of this accompanied by lots of wind.

I'm not sure what the rest of the week will bring in terms of weather, but the squirrels sure have been anxious about food.

How About A Kiss?

The flu knocked me out for a few weeks, but just in time for Valentine's week, it's mating season! Actually, this was taken shortly before the New Year.

The female squirrel was way out on the end of a very small limb. She was playing hard to get, and she also acted like she was scared, but she had no trouble getting away when she wanted.

They were vocalizing like crazy. He was making short grunt-like calls and she would scream at him every now and then. There were actually two males chasing her initally until she got out on that small limb. At that point, only one continued to chase her while the other waited at the trunk of the tree. The aggressive male then secured his position / pathway on the limb and chased away the other male.

This is the face she'd make when she screamed at him. Somtimes it was just because she felt like screaming, but sometimes he'd grab her tail and she wasn't having any of that!

This female isn't Preggers, but we definitely think Preggers is expecting. She's showing just the tiniest bit. I'll get pictures as weather allows.