No More Dragon Tails?

Getting settled into a new place took much longer than I expected, but it's finally starting to come together. I miss my squirrels, but I saw them a few times before we were completely out of the old place.

If you might recall, we were worried about a few things, primarily the fate of Preggers' young and Dragon, because his tail was injured. Well, Preggers did in fact have one baby left. She came by with a little squirrel that got so scared when we opened the blinds that it jumped up and over the porch's lower railing. It desperately tried to hang on with its claws to the decking, but it fell (just a foot or so) and ran off. Preggers caught up with it after grabbing a bite to eat.

Dragon also came by, which was a nice surprise. He was getting along okay with his limp tail, but we were worried about how long he would last.

Unfortunately, just like the cat Crazy57bus mentioned in the comment section of my previous post, it appears Dragon's tail fell off because of the injury. We were hoping that it would heal over time because he was getting more and more use out of it, little though it was.

You can see the broken tail bone. Poor little guy.

Now to some old business.

@Daffy - How about naming your two-toned squirrel "Tommy Two-Tone"? That's my husband's idea. I came up with some really stupid names, like... two-tone. :)

@Ratty - I haven't seen very many tame squirrels either. I think some of the squirrels at my new place may be more tame. They at least don't run when they see a human, but I've only seen a couple and they don't know me yet.

Dragon Tails

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!

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.

Long Time No Post!

It's been busy here in California, but I feel like a hamster on a wheel to nowhere.  On the bright side, the weather's been absolutely STUNNING!  The next 7 days are supposed to be sunny and 70-73 F.  I may try to get some hiking in this weekend.

At any rate, we've had some new squirrels come around the porch.  I saw these guys back in January.  They had been around our trees wrestling and such, but they had never stopped by the porch while we were feeding.  You can always tell the new guys because they cautiously sniff everything from the brooms to the welcome mat.

I wish I could tag or mark these little guys so I could easily identify them and know their habits.

Their play fights are always interesting to watch.  They wildly chase eachother around a tree and through the yard.  Then they'll start wrestling until one of them gets tired and starts to hug the other.  Then they rest.

In the sequence below, one of them got an itch after a few paw hits.  At that point, they started to groom eachother before calling it a day.

Buckets of Rain and Playing Tag

It's been raining buckets, and we've had thunder, which is unusual for this area.  Scares the crap out of the squirrels, too!  Hand feeding them has been traumatic.

Spooky had been back and forth all day, putting his muddy paws and mud-caked nose all over my pants.  Later in the afternoon, Preggers came around, but soon, we had Preggers, Norman, Spooky and Scamp on the porch.  So... Norman chases Preggers, who in turn chases Spooky who chases Scamp.  There were squirrels jumping off our sliding glass doors, and a few times, we had 3 squirrels chasing eachother in circles.

Spooky was so agitated he yelled at me because I wasn't feeding him fast enough to escape chase from Preggers.  She would stand behind him and rattle her teeth.  Then a couple of times, Norman would guard the door and posture at any and all squirrel-comers.  Preggers would do the same if Norman wasn't around.

It must be the weather.

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.

Bad Kitty

I forgot to add a photo of this ornery kitty. It likes to stalk and hunt our squirrels. The squirrels don't seem too concerned about the cat, but they are awfully cavalier sometimes and let the cat get really close.

Usually, they stare at it when it's near them as if to say, "What do you think you're doing? You're not going to catch me."

It's hilarious when they finally jump onto a tree and bark at it, though.

Goodbye to the Old

Goodbye 2008

A Black Phoebe flies away.

Perched Black Phoebe

From their head to the tip of their tails, Black Phoebes are approximately 6.75 inches (17cm) long and weigh less than an ounce, approximately 19g.

Beggars

Anyone home?

I think that's the magic handle...

Maybe if I look a little harder they'll see me.

Paw and nose marks left on the windows from squirrels looking inside.

Happy New Year!

Bird Brain

A female Downy Woodpecker...

doing what woodpeckers do.

Other birds seen in the yard:

American Goldfinch

American Crow

American Robin

Black Phoebe

Chestnut Backed Chickadee

Hermit Thrush

Scrub Jay

California Towhee

Some of these birds are incredibly small and incredibly skittish, like the Chestnut Backed Chickadee and Hermit Thrush. I'll post photos when I get some decent ones.

A Rainy Christmas

A squirrel shakes off the rain during a downpour.

Scamp (formerly "The Brave One") grabbing some nuts. A squirrel's still gotta eat!

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.

Welcome to Tree Clowns!

Our inaugural post happens to be Election Day 2008.  Get out and vote if you haven't already.  All I have to say is, "Thank goodness for absentee ballots!"  :)

Anyway, this blog is all about goofy tree animals, like birds and squirrels... but especially squirrels.

Hope you like them as much as I do!  I'll be back in a bit.