Preggers' Family

I found Preggers' nest by accident.  I was sitting in the backyard watching the woodpeckers, nuthatches and hummingbirds.  There were a few squirrel chases hubby and I were following when I thought I saw a couple of squirrels on our roof.  It turned out there were 3 squirrels!

My thoughts immediately went to Preggers and her litter.  We have a VERY steep A-Frame approximately 35 ft (10.7 meters) high, and they were at the top.  I saw them crawl around to the buttress.  After a short excursion there, they returned to the top of the roof.  This was close to sundown, so the light was fading, but I recognized Preggers immediately.  2 smaller squirrels were with her.

One immediately jumped from the roof to a high, small hanging branch on the Oak tree, about 40 feet (12.2 meters) off the ground.  This squirrel was slightly larger than the other youngster.  (Not the same Youngster from World Photos.)  The branch didn't hang over the roof, but it hung over the driveway.  It's the far left branch in the photo below.  I can easily see a young squirrel falling while attempting to make that jump.

The other smaller squirrel got onto its hind legs to try to make the jump, but it would lose its balance and then run back to Preggers, who was half-asleep, stretched out on her belly with her legs dangling off both sides of the roof.  The little squirrel would promptly walk all over Preggers' head and nudge Preggers with its nose, until finally Preggers got up and watched the little squirrel jump to the Oak tree, Preggers following behind.

From my reading, most squirrels have a litter of 3.  Last year, Preggers had a litter of 3, so I think the squirrel we thought may have died did in fact perish.  I hope not, but it's very possible.

As I said earlier, we discovered Preggers' nest.  It turns out she's nesting underneath the apex of our roof.  Our roof overhangs the house, so we have these beams that extend from the house to just beyond the roof.  We have found squirrels nesting there in the past, and it looks like Preggers is nesting there now.  She's at the very top, so we can't actually see her nest, but if other squirrels' nest is any indication of her homebuilding design, it's a simple pile of leaves and twigs to sleep on.

Cast of Characters

We've been watching the squirrels in our backyard for a few months.  We have a lot of trees and thought they were just funny.  Then we started feeding them and naming them.  

It appears that there are several groups of squirrels that live in the trees in our yard.  Other squirrels come by now and again from neighboring yards, but these are the folks that seem to "own" our yard.

This is Preggers.

Well, this was her about 6 months ago. She's since had her litter of 3, but she still comes around and she's one of our favorites.

This is Preggers today. Her tail fur grew back, her nipples receded underneath fur on her belly that eventually grew back after being chewed off, but now she's got a notch in her ear.

Goliath just started coming around recently, and we think he has a litter mate that he still hangs out with that looks just like him in every way we've been able to tell.

We call him Goliath for obvious reasons. :) Also, he's just huge compared to all the other squirrels.

These are the "Little Ones". We think they're maybe just a few months old.

Yes, they're play humping eachother. We think that adult may be their mother, but we're not sure. She doesn't come around anymore.

This little one is "Spooky".

This little one is "The Brave One" because he lets us touch him... sort of.

Spooky's much more aggressive toward other squirrels though. He's always the one doing the humping and chasing.

Last but not least, Chucky, the scrub jay.

That's the major group. We can hand feed every one in this group, including the bird.