Friendly loveable Squirrels..

[A modeler named mike]

Not sure if there is already a squirrel topic started. I looked but after scrolling through pages and pages I gave up. So if there is one already.. I apologize and it can be moved.

I've always been fascinated by these furry little creatures. I know some people would just as well shoot them for fun, food or because they're doing damage to your property. That's all well and good but I prefer to just enjoy their presence. I had a female squirrel at my house that would come and eat a variety of shelled nuts from my hand. It was so fricken cool. She was so gentle and never tried to bite me. Although that was always a concern in the back of my head. This hand feeding went on for about two months. Then she stopped coming. I figured she had been the victim of a predator. Here's a few screenshots from videos of the hand feeding.

 

I also had the privilege of saving a baby squirrel who had fallen out of its neat with 3 other siblings during a bad rain and wind storm. The other 3 babies didn't make it. This little guy was approximately 3 to 4 week old. I nurtured it and raised it till it was about 7 weeks old. I'm my state it is illegal to keep one as a pet. So I contacted an animal rescue facility and handed the little guy over with a donation to help out. It turned out it was a little girl and she was in excellent health due to my care. Than I got the riot act on I shouldn't have done what I did. I should have left it. Blah, blah, blah.. ?°° I did it is it out of love for animals and I'll do it again in a heart beat. If I hadn't than little rocky may have never had a second chance at life. Here's some photos of that little sweet girl squirrel.. Enjoy and let's see what you got..✌?

Edited October 29, 2023 by A modeler named mike

[TonyK]

Great story. I've had squirrels in my backyard for years and one of them comes scratching at the door wanting me to come out and feed them. I named "him" Steve until my wife pointed out it's a "her". Very tame and gets way too close to me. The dogs go nuts when she comes to the back door. I can work in the yard and they don't run off.

[A modeler named mike]

24 minutes ago, TonyK said:

Great story. I've had squirrels in my backyard for years and one of them comes scratching at the door wanting me to come out and feed them. I named "him" Steve until my wife pointed out it's a "her". Very tame and gets way too close to me. The dogs go nuts when she comes to the back door. I can work in the yard and they don't run off.

Cool.. I toss out peanuts all day long to the 6 or 7 that come every morning and throughout the day to feast. We even have a chipmunk coming now. I can stand out amongst them and they come within a foot of me looking up waiting. I have named the ones I can identify. At my house where I usually live.. They jump on the window screens to let you know they are there for food. Thanks for sharing Tony. 

[Horrorshow]

I love going to nature trails with a bag of peanuts to feed the squirrels and chipmunks. 
Just a little bit of caution for everyone, my cousin used to feed squirrels at her house, she went on vacation and they chewed through her window sills, got inside and literally destroyed her house.

[A modeler named mike]

Just now, Horrorshow said:

I love going to nature trails with a bag of peanuts to feed the squirrels and chipmunks. 
Just a little bit of caution for everyone, my cousin used to feed squirrels at her house, she went on vacation and they chewed through her window sills, got inside and literally destroyed her house.

Wow.. No more vacations or at least invite the squirrels to go along.. 

I know they can be very destructive. So far we have had no problems. I guess the memo I sent them worked.."I'll fed you if you all behave, if not I've got a big cooking pot" 

[Rob Hall]

I have a bunch in my back yard... I have a coworker that has a red squirrel as a pet, occasionally shows up on screen in work Zoom meetings..

[Snake45]

Great story, Mike. Thanks for sharing it. 

[A modeler named mike]

21 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

I have a bunch in my back yard... I have a coworker that has a red squirrel as a pet, occasionally shows up on screen in work Zoom meetings..

Cool... I would have loved to keep rocky as a pet if the law permitted. I will say this. The smell of urine was very strong. Not sure how I would deal with that. Not sure if they can be trained to use a pan or a specific area.  Here's a picture I got off the internet that I use as a wallpaper sometimes. 

[A modeler named mike]

20 minutes ago, Snake45 said:

Great story, Mike. Thanks for sharing it. 

Awe Nuts.. Thanks.. For reading.. Hey your not one of those squirrel eating snakes are ya? ?

[Can-Con]

Love the friendly, loveable squirrels. 

My town is positively polluted with them. I can look out any of my windows and see one pretty well any time I like.

What I find most amusing is when they get in the garage and knock stuff over, usually resulting in a new dent in the Trans Am ,,, positively adorable.

Edited October 28, 2023 by Can-Con

[bobthehobbyguy]

I have a bunch of squirrels that live in the trees by my house. They are entertaining to watch.

[Mark]

I've got a squirrel drey in one of the tall trees at the back of my yard.  I don't know how many occupants it has, but while I was mowing the lawn one was leaping from tree to tree, pretty high up.  They're gathering and stashing food for winter, so that one has been really busy lately.

[TonyK]

I've heard all the horror stories of squirrels tearing up peoples houses but we've been here over 20 years and things are good. The woods behind us is where they live so they come here for meals and go back to the safe place.

[A modeler named mike]

35 minutes ago, Can-Con said:

Love the friendly, loveable squirrels. 

My town is positively polluted with them. I can look out any of my windows and see one pretty well any time I like.

What I find most amusing is when they get in the garage and knock stuff over, usually resulting in a new dent in the Trans Am ,,, positively adorable.

?.. Sorry.. I can sense your sarcasm.. I'd be mad too. 

[A modeler named mike]

2 minutes ago, TonyK said:

I've heard all the horror stories of squirrels tearing up peoples houses but we've been here over 20 years and things are good. The woods behind us is where they live so they come here for meals and go back to the safe place.

Yep.. Same here. I go through 5 ponds of unsalted peanuts a week. I've even noticed the neighboring squirrels across the street are now stopping by for a treat. One of my neighbors told another neighbor they don't know where they're coming from but I have a lot of peanut shells in my yard? Oops.. That would be my guys..

[bobthehobbyguy]

You have to be careful feeding them. You don't want to make them to get too dependent on being feed. 

I don't feed my by they have lots of pine cones to feed them.

[Ace-Garageguy]

4 hours ago, A modeler named mike said:

I know they can be very destructive. So far we have had no problems. I guess the memo I sent them worked.."I'll fed you if you all behave, if not I've got a big cooking pot" 

Yup...cute lovable little critters, but the ones in my area have a penchant for getting under the hoods of my cars and mindlessly chewing on wiring. 

It's maddening to have to repair what would be hundreds or even thousands of dollars of electrical damage (if I had to pay somebody else).

But my feral cats and the local rodents have established an uneasy peace over the years, with only the slow, stupid ones becoming lunch. The smart ones stay up in the trees, and out of the cars.

There's a lot to be said for natural selection.  

 

Edited October 28, 2023 by Ace-Garageguy

[A modeler named mike]

8 minutes ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

You have to be careful feeding them. You don't want to make them to get too dependent on being feed. 

I don't feed my by they have lots of pine cones to feed them.

You are correct they can become dependent on hand outs. We have a lot of oaks, maples and a variety of pine species that they still fed on along with the peanuts. They also love to eat the berries? on the dogwood trees we have and leftover toast that I'll toss to them after our breakfast.

[A modeler named mike]

23 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Yup...cute lovable little critters, but the ones in my area have a penchant for getting under the hoods of my cars and mindlessly chewing on wiring. 

It's maddening to have to repair what would be hundreds or even thousands of dollars of electrical damage (if I had to pay somebody else).

But my feral cats and the local rodents have established an uneasy peace over the years, with only the slow, stupid ones becoming lunch.

There's a lot to be said for natural selection.  

 

I guess if I had the unfortunate experiences some of you guys have had my view would be somewhat different on the little guys.. But it's not. Until they turn on me they are safe. If they do turn I will unleash a wrath of fury on them. Dad and I will be sporting squirrel skin hats and gloves.. We have a couple of feral cats lurking about too but they seem not to bother the wildlife. Maybe a neighbor is feeding them good?

[TonyK]

I only feed them small amounts. Some days they don't come around at all and that's fine with me. I have bags of mixed seeds so there's big and little stuff. The birds come around more than the squirrels and are picking at the ground all the time. Good entertainment.

[A modeler named mike]

1 minute ago, TonyK said:

I only feed them small amounts. Some days they don't come around at all and that's fine with me. I have bags of mixed seeds so there's big and little stuff. The birds come around more than the squirrels and are picking at the ground all the time. Good entertainment.

Yeah by no means am I over feeding them. They bury a good % and the birds chime in on the action too. The blue jays will swoop down at the squirrels trying to get the nuts. Then they take it over to the split rail fence and bang the nut on the wood while it's in their beak. Yes very entertaining. Now the woodpeckers we have are not! 

[OldTrucker]

Rats with bushy tails.

I was looking for an old picture of grandpa on the porch swing with a squirrel next to him taking a peanut and all around the ceiling of the porch about 30 squirrel tails hanging!

Every kid in the neighborhood had one or two on their handle bars!

He was an avid hunter but if someone was harassing a squirrel in the neighborhood he would tell at them to knock it off! LOL

[BlackSheep214]

There's an all black squirrel in my area from time to time but not very often I see him. A cool sight to see.

[A modeler named mike]

22 hours ago, OldTrucker said:

Rats with bushy tails.

I was looking for an old picture of grandpa on the porch swing with a squirrel next to him taking a peanut and all around the ceiling of the porch about 30 squirrel tails hanging!

Every kid in the neighborhood had one or two on their handle bars!

He was an avid hunter but if someone was harassing a squirrel in the neighborhood he would tell at them to knock it off! LOL

I too had the tails poking out the grips. They went with the baseball cards and clothes pin motors smacking the spokes as we peddled our @$$€$ off.. Those were the days. I think your photo sounds pretty funny...

[A modeler named mike]

7 hours ago, BlackSheep214 said:

There's an all black squirrel in my area from time to time but not very often I see him. A cool sight to see.

At my other home we have grey squirrels. The next court over approximately an 1/8 of a mile they have a few black squirrels. They never seem to travel to our side of the community that's connected. Weird.. Same type of tress and landscape.