Wild Gray Squirrel and Cotton Rat meet for the first time nose-to-nose in the deep forest! We all know squirrels and rats are from the same Rodent family - I suspect Squirrels would be insulted if they knew this or that we call them "Tree Rats" sarcastically or affectionately sometimes.
Gray Squirrels bury nuts as fast as they can - a true nut burying frenzy - as I spend some quality time handing them large ripe acorns given by a friend. The Backyard has no acorns this time of year (water oaks) while they are falling in piles in other areas of Florida with small live oaks. Rather than eating them as I expected, the squirrels seem in a great rush to bury them as fast as possible - many they will not find again. Maybe it is going to get cold this winter! You will also hear the calls of Gray Catbirds and Northern Cardinals in the background at various times.
Cluck - Cluck or Knock - Knock on wood sound or calls echoing loudly through the forests and mountains - these incredible sounds are made by Chipmunks and seeing is believing! After three years of documenting these loud sounds that carry for 100's of yards through the forest and suspecting they were from Chipmunks, but not knowing how they could be so loud I've finally caught the little ones in the act. They put a lot of effort into these calls with full body involvement. This loud calling typically starts in late summer - here in the Great Smoky Mountains it was August 29th. These calls have absolutely nothing to do with a warning call after seeing predators such as hawks as some scientists have concluded in limited studies mostly in the northeast, but likely have everything to do with Chipmunk communication, perhaps territory. These sounds will echo through the forest sometimes for hours with several joining in especially in October. Because Chipmunks are so small and the forest so vast it is very hard to actually find the source of these loud wood-knocking noises, but today I got lucky with one sitting on a pile of rocks at the forest edge - the Chipmunk seemed to enter an almost trance-like state for a few minutes.
Here are the previous recordings in the deep forest - you can imagine how hard it is to find an individual Chipmunk:
Gray Squirrel stakes out a female Pileated Woodpecker on three different days and waits until she has exposed bug infested wood with her powerful beak and then attacks - scaring off the woodpecker and then immediately begins to eat where the Pileated Woodpecker just exposed the rotting wood. It is either doing this to gain access to the tasty ant larvae under the bark or there is something about the wood such as minerals or "medicine" that the squirrel finds appealing. Although it is not uncommon for squirrels and woodpeckers to occasionally have a tussle I have never heard of or seen this unusual behavior before. Clearly the squirrel has learned to take advantage of the Pileated Woodpeckers hard work - no doubt for some nefarious purpose. This may go on all the time in dense cover like this its just that I was lucky to notice it on a stretch of says. Generally the big Woodies are rare visitors to the Backyard.
Another reason besides Zika Virus to avoid mosquito bites in Florida! May be disturbing to some viewers! Bot Flies, Warbles, Wolf Worms, Mango Worms - they have many names, but they are nasty and they are back again this hot summer (Florida, late July 2016). This video shows some of the Backyard Gray Squirrels dealing with this mosquito borne seasonal scourge that they suffer every summer. Not all of the squirrels have them - yet. One poor guy has them in his shoulder, leg and testicles which seems particularly nasty. The video shows them stoically carrying on and doing a lot of scratching and biting. Last year at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orx-xLZrry0
I noted they typically fully recover especially with extra food and fresh water provided by kindly humans. It is also interesting to note that the worst off fellow appears to be eating dirt or charcoal as a way of providing essential nutrients and maybe animal medicine. There really is nothing to be done medically for them as catching wild squirrels and restraining them while trying to cleanly remove and disinfect the worm area would be very stress inducing and risk injury and infection. It is said that these type of bot flies do not transfer to humans by mosquito bites in Florida as they do in Central America, but with Zika and everything else around I try to avoid any mosquito bites - but that's nearly impossible!
10+ minutes of the World's angriest Red and Gray squirrels - upset, angry, barking, sneezing, snorting, wheezing, tails wagging, eyes bulging and twitching, feet stammering and just generally in a bad mood. Mostly because a human or predator violated their woodland territory or food was involved. Not limited to just raw displays of anger - squirrels have subtle ways of giving the evil eye to humans and their own kind and display passive-aggressive behavior as well as clear frustration and throwing a fit when a task they are trying to perform does not go well - something we humans can relate to. One thing about squirrels they are characters and have a lot of character!
Celebrate Squirrel Appreciation Day - January 21st !
Wednesday January 21st, 2016 is Squirrel Appreciation Day! Squirrels have a number of admirable qualities, not the least of which is obvious intelligence (have you ever tried to outsmart one, it's a humbling experience), dedication to family and raising their young, strength and agility, perseverance, a natural instinct to show off and entertain, plant trees, and a certain irresistible cuteness, especially young Red Squirrels. Squirrels are a great species to introduce children to wildlife and to learn to interact with and appreciate the natural world right in your own yard. Start observing the squirrels in your environment and you'll be amazed at the things they do. Just a sample of the many squirrel pictures and videos taken in the yard are found below. My personal favorites are the Red Squirrels - check out the Red Squirrel Playlist !
Celebrate Monday by buying a bag ofunsaltedroasted peanuts in the shell - take a break from the daily grind and go out in the backyard or the park and feed the squirrels. In colder climates this is the time of winter when they could use a little help as well as the birds.
A little motivation message from the animal kingdom. This little Red Squirrel is inspiring - the picture of determination. The task seems insurmountable, but it assesses the situation, takes a deep breath and gets on with it. Nothing like a "tough nut to crack" to challenge you! Its hard work will pay dividends down the road. The full version of this is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld9OQgOUOdk
The three baby squirrels raised in a woodpecker nest box and transferred to a nest high in an Oak tree have now left the nest and are out on their own as part of the Backyard society - all safe and healthy. Gray Squirrels typically are not totally weaned and depart their nest until they are almost as big as adult squirrels. You can tell by their behavior they are quite tentative.
The playlist of the Baby Squirrels Raised in a Woodpecker Nest Box is at:
The story of three infant Gray Squirrels who were delivered in a Woodpecker Nest box in October 2015 in the backyard. Many hours of recorded and live broadcasts document these precious creatures and the amazing way they interact with each other and their mother. Some of the most precious babies in Nature!
Gray Squirrels urine mark profusely over four days on a wooden tabletop in the Backyard which has become a new territorial boundary marker. Setting up a camera trap for Blue Jays I have been training resulted in an unexpected amazing discovery of just how much territory marking Gray Squirrels do - and how critical their sense of smell is to communication. You will learn perhaps more than you ever wanted to know about how Gray Squirrels use their sense of smell to communicate. The large oak tree seen in the background of all the videos has been their traditional territorial boundary marker - but after the wooden table was in the Backyard for about a week for the Blue Jays the Gray Squirrels apparently adopted it as a new key position marker and checkpoint in their territorial geography database. Watch in amazement - BTW this is not just a male thing - the females can mark with the best of them!
Squirrels mark territory with scent and may actively defend that territory in direct interactions. Gray squirrels have two main scent marking tools, urine and scent glands near the mouth. They will frequently urinate as they move along travel routes and they often stop and rub their oral scent glands as well. When two squirrels meet they will greet each other by sniffing these oral scent glands, sometimes placing their hands on the other squirrels shoulders, which gives the appearance of kissing and hugging and has given rise to many a novelty greeting card photo.
The second main territorial marking method gray squirrels is chewing a large vertical stripe on a large dominant tree in their territory and using this visual marking as a scent marking post. All squirrels passing by this stripe will stop and smell who has been around and add marks of their own. These marks are often maintained for generations (squirrel generations that is).
Gray Squirrel Parents show incredible tenderness with the father attending to grooming and massaging the Mother who has been nursing three kittens for almost two months and no doubt needs some attention. It is very rare to capture this parent bonding behavior on film. This kind of non-sexual interest in the Mother's well-being is rather striking and charming and implies there is much more to squirrels than just base "animal" instincts. Typically the male who in this case is the "Bull Squirrel of the Backyard" has nothing to do with raising the young and is rather gruff - see - Male Gray Squirrel Dominance Behavior https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFl2v0rO1zw
A Live feed of three fast-growing baby gray squirrels now about six weeks old living in a Woodpecker Nest Box has been broadcast daily since late October. This Youtube playlist contains the archives of these broadcasts! Their eyes have started to open a bit at time and their fur is filling out fast and there tails are long and curly. Mom leaves them alone most of the day because it is so hot and checks in a few times and spends all night with them. If you have never seen baby squirrels in nature you are in for a rare treat. Below are a few daily snapshot of their development. Cute and funny doesn't begin to describe these little ones! Subscribe to the YouTube channel and keep up on the squirrels and all the other nature subjects that appear in this blog :
Worlds' Angriest Red Squirrel! This season's mother Red Squirrel sets the bar for the best upset squirrel rant I've ever seen as I finally found her nesting tree. Mid-October is peak Red Squirrel baby season and I expect to see them emerge from their nest on their own any day now! Last year there were six babies!
Amazing sounds of a mother Red Squirrel giving the alarm call followed by furious barking call when her nest is discovered. Crank up the volume and enjoy! - Clearly they are the boss of the forest. Squirrels and chipmunks (which are really squirrels) makes some of the most unusual sounds in northern forests.
He is doing better and should fully recover with plenty of water and food - his activity level and overall appearance is good. A few other squirrels have two or three bot fly "warbles" and are also hanging in there. See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orx-xLZrry0
Gray squirrels are often infested by one or a few larvae. The large, fluid-draining warbles are often surrounded by patches of bare skin, and appear rather gross. However, an otherwise healthy adult host with access to adequate food and water probably can tolerate at least four to five of these insects with little obvious effect on its behavior other than stimulating efforts to scratch the warbles. But, at higher infestation levels (squirrels with 10 or more larvae have been observed) and in situations where there is a scarcity of food or water, or if the host is an infant, pregnant or nursing infants, these parasites can be harmful. For example, a heavily infested squirrel may become weakened and more vulnerable to predation, a fatal bacterial infection may set in, or a mother squirrel may experience a diminished milk supply leading to the death of her nursing offspring. With gray squirrels, the larvae often are found in the upper torso, although they may occur on the head, limbs and most other areas of the body except the tail.
Gray Squirrels in the Backyard are again afflicted with the larvae of the naturally occurring parasitic Bot Fly. Often mistaken for tumors or squirrel pox it is instead the large "warbles" caused by the Bot Fly and for the last two years it has become a summer phenomena in the Florida Backyard. There are approximately eight Backyard squirrels at any given time and nearly all will get at least a few larvae. Although painful to see them suffer they will all likely survive this seasonal malady. Give them plenty of food and water and moral support! Detailed information can be found at:
Red Squirrel accidentally introduced to a salted roast peanut for the first time does something totally unexpected - it begins to lick the peanut for several minutes - I run to get my camera and he continues savoring it I guess for the salty mineral content of the peanut shell and never opens or eats it. In fact, he carefully puts it away in a safe place for later use as a salt lick and eats some more bird seed. Of course, you should not feed squirrels salted peanuts - I'll eat the rest of the bag!
Wild Gray Squirrels and Blue Jays training to wait for me to open the door in the morning to be fed peanuts. First I trained the squirrels to wait and come
but it didn't take long for the extremely intelligent and observant Blue Jays who I occasionally hand feed to adjust their busy schedules and gatecrash the squirrel feeding session. It can get a little hectic for about 10 minutes in the morning, but they are a fun bunch to jump start the day. The entire family of squirrels and Blue Jays join in and for the most part its orderly. This is a recording of a mornings activity. See Hand Feeding my Blue Jay Buddy at:
Be extremely careful if you attempt to hand feed squirrels they are farsighted and notice their eyes are on the side of their heads and they will accidentally bite - notice that I only hold the very end of a peanut and keep my fingers away to make it easy to grab. I would suggest never extending an open hand with food in it to a wild squirrel! I also do not recommend over-feeding squirrels - just give them a bit to supplement their diets and maintain some discipline so they wont become dependent.
Squirrels entered into a Backyard Taste Test Contest must choose between roasted unsalted peanuts and tree-ripened juicy sweet Loquats. Watch and find out what four out of five squirrels prefer!
Run Squirrel Run. Squirrel only runs on stepping stones! My trained Gray Squirrel Buddy waits for me to open the back door each morning and then runs to get a peanut - always careful to stay on the path. He runs back and forth all the way for each peanut! One might say I have trained him well, but he is smarter than that - he has trained me! Filmed with a cell phone so a bit shaky in places. A more thorough training video is planned.
Young Gray Squirrel starts his busy day by taking a sun bath then yawns, stretches, brushes his teeth and leisurely completes his morning grooming - Looking Good! Then off to have some peanuts.
