Frustrated Red Squirrel Smashes Thumb - Reacts Just Like Human - National Squirrel Appreciation Day

Frustrated  Red Squirrel Smashes Thumb - Reacts Just Like Human

Red Squirrel smashes its little fingers trying to get peanuts out of a feeder and lets fly some bad squirrel language in frustrating and then sucks his thumb just like we do. Poor little guy, he's too little to open the box so I immediately removed the cover. Squirrels wear their feelings on their sleeves, you always know where you stand with them. January 21st is National Squirrel Appreciation Day - celebrate by feeding some squirrels!
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Frustrated  Red Squirrel Smashes Thumb - Reacts Just Like Human

Celebrate Squirrel Appreciation Day

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 of unsalted roasted 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.

Video: A Most Amazing Squirrel

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

Video: Funniest and Cutest Baby Squirrels

Video: Squirrel Alarm Calls Decoded!

Video: Six Baby Squirrels

Video: Squirrel With Hiccups!

Flying Squirrel - Ghost of the Forest - not likely to 

see this one on Thursday!

Barking Squirrel - The World's Angriest Red Squirrel

Video:  The World's Angriest Red Squirrel

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!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTV6w2L7z9Y

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Video:  The World's Angriest Red Squirrel

Red Squirrel Alarm and Barking Calls

Video: Red Squirrel Alarm and Barking Calls

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.

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Video: Red Squirrel Alarm and Barking Calls

Baby Red Squirrel "Kitten" in Nest

Baby Red Squirrel "Kitten" in Nest

Celebrate Squirrel Appreciation Day - January 21st !

Celebrate Squirrel Appreciation Day - January 21st !

Thursday 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 by buying a bag of unsalted roasted 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.

Video: A Most Amazing Squirrel

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

Video: Funniest and Cutest Baby Squirrels

Video: Squirrel Alarm Calls Decoded!

Video: Six Baby Squirrels

Video: Squirrel With Hiccups!

Flying Squirrel - Ghost of the Forest - not likely to 

see this one on Thursday!

Six Cute Baby Red Squirrel Kittens !

Video: Six Cute Baby Red Squirrel Kittens !

Six Red Squirrel Kittens came out of the nest in early October. It is always a wild scene when they first start leaving the nest. It does not take long before they are running all over getting into trouble despite Mom's best advice. I believe I have individual videos of each of the six as well as the group in the video. 

There were five baby squirrels in October 2013 living in my Screech Owl Nest box:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAsnmZ1j5ac

This year they stayed back in the forest in a nest that I never found. Nuts are in great supply this fall making for a bonanza for squirrels and bears etc. Perhaps a bumper crop of bear cubs next spring!

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Video: October 2013's five kittens

A rare picture of all six red squirrel kittens at once!

More typical four at a time!

Cute Red Squirrel Kitten

Red Squirrel Kitten

One of the six Red Squirrel kitten's first day out of the nest. Still totally dependent on Mother's milk with "baby teeth". I love how their paws are so hugely out of proportion to their body.....

Red Squirrel Eating Hemlock Nuts

Video: Red Squirrel Eating Hemlock Nuts

Young Red Squirrel eating the bounty of small Eastern Hemlock Tsuga Canadensis "pine cone" seeds in October as they pop open on the tree. This is one of the six squirrels that left the nest in early October

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTV6w2L7z9Y  it is learning fast which is good because it will have to survive on its own in the woods as they are not fed from October til spring. The Eastern Hemlock grows to a very large size but it has some of the smallest seed cones of all large conifers.

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Video: Red Squirrel Eating Hemlock Nuts

Baby Red Squirrel In The Rain.....

Baby Red Squirrel in the rain, just a few days out of the nest. Also known as "Bigfoot" .......

This little one has five brothers and sisters shown in the video below. Last October there were five squirrel kittens.

Video: Six Cute Red Squirrel Kittens

Red Squirrel Tries Corn to Go!

Video:  Red Squirrel Corn to Go!

Mother Red Squirrel tries to take an entire ear of squirrel corn back to her nest with predictably humorous results. She is nursing the kittens in a nearby nest and I leave out a feast of fresh nuts for her several times each day, but I did not expect her to try and take a heavy ear of dried corn which weighs many times her body weight to go! Hope to have more baby Red Squirrel videos in October when they are big enough to get out and around.

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Video:  Red Squirrel Corn to Go!

Red Squirrel Mother's Day

Video: Red Squirrel Mother's Day

A typical Mother's Day at the Red Squirrel house is a wild scene and there always seems to be some sort of high drama - even in just a 3 minute video clip. Mother Squirrel is always on high alert and keeping an eye on the five little ones!

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Video: Red Squirrel Mother's Day

Red Squirrel Raids Suet Bird Feeder !

Video: Red Squirrel Raids Suet Bird Feeder !

Red Squirrel Raids Suet Bird Feeder. Hanging upside down ninja-style works just fine. While somewhat "squirrel-proof" - most squirrels will manage to whittle it down through the cage over a period of days. Suet costs about a dollar a package so well worth the entertainment value to spread them around for birds and squirrels and let them show off their acrobatic skills.

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Video: Red Squirrel Raids Suet Bird Feeder !

Mysterious Knocking on Wood Sounds from the Deep Forest of the Great Smokey Mountains!

Video: Mysterious Knocking on Wood Sounds from the Deep Forest of the Great Smokey Mountains!

What's knocking on wood in the primordial high-elevation forest of the Great Smoky Mountains? It seems to reverberate from all directions and is hundreds of yards away - or is it! After four days of investigating these strange, incessant and mind-numbing wood-knocking noises deep in the forest I was not able to find and film the mysterious creature(s). Having spent parts of 7 summers here this is the first time I encountered this phenomena to such a degree that it caught my attention. It was early October 2013 near 4000 feet elevation. An exhaustive Google search seemed to solve the mystery to my satisfaction. You probably have heard a Chipmunk "Chip", but have you ever heard the elusive "CluckMunk" Cluck? This bizarre knocking on wood phenomena has actually been researched, but is not well-documented. I managed to find the expert on the subject at: http://miracleofnature.org/blog/chipmunk-clucks-revisited  

This fellow wrote a thesis on this "clucking"!

However, contrary to his theory of the Chipmunks making these "clucks" as warning calls for raptors in the trees, these bizarre "Cluckmunks" just seemed to enjoy making this sound for hours on end - and when two or three get going at once echoing through the canopy it is as strange a sound as you ever want to hear in the deep dark forest. What was odd was that they didn't stop making the noise when I was making noise walking through the woods. There seemed to be a difference between the many Chipmunks hanging around the cabin and the deep forest creatures. Is the mystery solved - or does the high forest hold more secrets?

Note that toward the end of the video there are two red squirrels - they are not making the noises - the knocking noise is from off-camera. I fortunately recorded both Chipmunk calls going on at the same time while filming the red squirrels.

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Video: Mysterious Knocking on Wood Sounds from the Deep Forest of the Great Smokey Mountains!

 Who - Me?

The Squirrel Listener - Relaxing Nature Meditation

Video: The Squirrel Listener - Relaxing Nature Meditation

The Red Squirrel Listener - Relaxing Nature Meditation. Spend some quality time sharing  breakfast, tea or lunch at the creek-side home of the most attentive creature you'll ever encounter - the Squirrel Listener. Twelve minutes of up close undivided attention, eye contact, and the sounds of a small stream - you'll swear she is right in front of you.

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The Squirrel Listener - Relaxing Nature Meditation

Talking Baby Squirrels

Video: Talking Baby Squirrels

Red Squirrel Babies Talking while eating - or perhaps chattering and babbling would be a better description. Only a Squirrel Whisperer would know for sure, but it probably has something to do with "their space". These are three of the five cutest baby squirrels that are only one week out of the nest box https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAsnmZ1j5ac  and as you can see they are still getting along great - not!

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                                                                      You Talking to Me?

                                                                        What are they talking about

Funniest and Cutest Baby Squirrels - Really !

Video: Funniest and Cutest Baby Squirrels - Really !

Funniest and Cutest Baby Squirrels is not an exaggeration (or"kittens" as squirrel young are called) - perhaps gentle, innocent, and curious. All sorts of words will come to your mind as you watch this video. A mother Red Squirrel high in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina has her hands full raising these precocious youngsters in an Eastern Screech Owl nest box. Try and count how many little squirrels there are as you watch the video! They are still totally dependent on nursing and this is their first morning really beginning to explore the world outside the nest box. Apparently young animals just can't resist squeezing their heads through a nest box entrance - see how owlets do it at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTmQ1mnjAJc  "Funniest and Cutest Baby Screech Owls"

The music at the end is the appropriate  "Get Outside" by Jason Farnham, courtesy of the YouTube Audio Library.

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Funniest and Cutest Baby Squirrels - Really !

I Love My Job! - Life Lessons From a Squirrel...

Video:I Love My Job!

There is no nut that's too big to crack!

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

Music - "The Messenger" courtesy of the YouTube Audio Library.

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Cute Little Red Squirrel Husks a Huge Walnut - Time Lapse Video

Video:Cute Little Red Squirrel Husks a Huge Walnut - Time Lapse Video

A Picture of Determination: Little Red Squirrel Prepares to Husk a Huge Walnut

A little Red Squirrel husks a huge and still quite green Black Walnut. This walnut is about the size of a regulation baseball and about the same weight and too heavy for the little squirrel to carry off. Husking walnuts is one of the more disagreeable tasks and a primary reason many walnuts stay on the ground unharvested by humans. Squirrels of course love them and know that they have to be processed properly before storing them for the winter. After thoroughly husking and cleaning the walnut the shell with the prize nut inside was promptly "squirreled" away for later eating on a dark and cold winter day.

Red Squirrels are rather small and of course cute, but seeing something like this raises my already high opinion of their intelligence and work ethic! The video is processed at 8 times normal speed for a time lapse effect. The actual husking took about 8 minutes of really hard work. 

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Red Squirrels Kittens Raised in a Screech Owl Nest Box

A mother Red Squirrel raised her five kittens in one of our Screech Owl nest boxes and rather than a nuisance this was a delight. The only regret was not having a camera set up inside. Unlike Gray Squirrels the little Reds don't seem to make a mess of the box and as they have vacated by mid-October the owls can have it back for late winter nesting. I grew rather fond of these little Red Squirrel kittens (that's what baby squirrels are called) and will have some really cute videos in the coming weeks. If you subscribe to the companion YouTube channel you will be sure and get the latest videos - they will be delightful - I guaranty it! Subscribe at: 

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Two of the five Red Squirrel Kittens - just like owlets they find their first glimpse of humans fascinating.

This cute one with the pointy ears spent its early days staring out at the big world out there to be explored.