Sorry for my long absence. There are a lot of squirrel happenings going on.
We have had a new, small squirrel visiting us for a few weeks now. We didn't know what to call him. He acted a lot like Scamp. The first time he came by, he walked right up to me and jumped on my leg, so I just started calling him New Scamp. Due to my lack of ingenuity and originality in naming our squirrels, my husband stripped me of naming authority.
One day, "New Scamp" came by with a broken tail. (His tail is broken in the digging photo above, too.)
From that point, we started to call him Dragon, as in draggin'. Watching his little tail drag and sway behind him as if he was pulling a sweeping broom was hilariously sad.
As most of you probably already know, a squirrel's tail is vitally important to their survival because it helps them balance on tree limbs, etc. Fortunately, Dragon's tail seems to be broken only midway. He seems to have no trouble lifting the base of his tail, so that's a bit of good news. We weren't sure what Dragon's fate was going to be, but he's been coming by every other day or so.
He's still unafraid of me, and aggressive toward other squirrels, even with his broken tail. Fatty was minding his own business, eating a nut on the porch rail when out of nowhere, Dragon lunged at him like a linebacker and knocked him straight off the porch!
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10 comments:
Super photos of the new squirrel. Yeah, tails are very important, but he seems to be managing. I can't get the squirrels here to eat a peanut no matter how many I set out.
I can't get the squirrels here to eat walnuts. They can't seem to break into the shells! It's hilarious watching them try though. Eventually they just give up and bury them.
If you want them to start eating peanuts, you can try putting nothing out nothing but peanuts during a low tree yield season so they don't have much choice but to try a nut.
Oh poor little Dragon but you have given him a fearless name! That will help!
I must try the walnuts here on my little fellow! (No name yet...)Rene...would you like the honours of naming my squirrel? He is two-tone if that helps.
...ahhh...poor little Dragon, but he seems to have found a home with you. I hope he continues to thrive. I'm going to start watching my squirrels a little more closely to see if I can distinguish all of them. You've inspired me.
rene,
i have had damage at my house from squirrels over the years ... and i am sorry to say but i absolutely hate the squirrels within a mile of my house. but your photographs make them look fun to have around. classy shots. keep it up. maybe you'll change my mind.
nikonsniper
I feel sorry for the poor little guy. Dragon is a good name for him. I haven't seen squirrels as tame as that in a long time. When I was a kid everybody used to feed the squirrels, so they were all mostly tame.
He's a cute one. I feel sad for the squirrels when they have damage to their tails. I had one this past winter with only a couple inches left on it. He made it through but I was so worried he'd fall out of a tree. I haven't seen him at all for a couple months now. So I presume his life came to an end somehow. I have a real sad video of my oldest male squirrel. I'm pretty sure he died the other day. I felt so sad that day. He's been here for over three years and I'd always give him special nuts. I'm sure he has a lot of offspring around here though..
I love your posts!!
Rene, my comment about the peanuts was just an observation. I have no plans to change their eating habits.
Fatty must have made some rude comment to Dragon about his tail and that's why he busted him off the porch.
I grew up on a farm and one day this feral cat showed up with his tail broken in 3 spots. It was heartbreaking. We tried to catch him and take him to the vet. Thankfully, none of us needed stitches. The tail eventually fell off.
Me again...I posted squirrels tonight and thought about you and your blog! I'm really starting to study their behavior.
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