Squirrels

One nice sunny morning last week as the sun was rising in a cloudless sky (sunrise started about 5:25 am that day), Land Girl and I were eating breakfast and she noticed all the squirrels in the back yard. We have counted at varied times in the past as many as 12 squirrels in the yard. We have a good number of dogs around us, so we think they tend to congregate in our yard, away from the dog urine, hair or whatever. They run around, up and down trees, and all over the yard. They are a carefree creature, searching for their fall deposited nuts. Our yard has become the place for regular squirrel convention. 

While running around it is like they know the boundary of dog property owners and non-dog property owners, as they go near, but generally not across the dog owner property line. It is like the giant dog in "Sandlot" awaits them. One nearby dog is a golden retriever who is about as gentle and slobbery as a dog can be. Maybe the stay away from the dog slobber. One adjoining dog property owner has a fence, which really does not matter to a squirrel. The squirrels were in a playful mood. We all know what it means when squirrels are in a playful mood--more squirrels.

The interesting thing about that morning, however, is that the wife noticed, as she faced outside while I faced the man door to the garage, was the interplay of shadows. On that morning and time, the sun was at a precise angle to provide a definitive shadow of the tree trunk and limbs by the deck onto the green grass. The sun was not so high as to cast a shadow of the leafed tree,  and not so low as to not make the tree trunk and limbs discernable. At times, due to the wall between her and the tree, Land Girl could not see the squirrels on the tree, but could watch their antics in the angled shadow, as they climbed around, and up and down the tree. It was really quite fascinating as I turned around to view the site. We tried to count the squirrels, of which counted at least six. They move fast, and in a seemingly erratic fashion which makes me wonder if they have the squirrel version of ADHD. They even move faster, and more often than my wife. 

Squirrels give birth typically twice a year--late winter and mid-summer, with gestation lasting about two months. A female squirrel generally births two to four babies, but could be as many as eight. Hence, the timing of the squirrel sex convention in our yard makes some sense, if not providing some practice. 

The nuisance they produce is digging in the garden and flower pots, searching for or digging up their treasured food. In a suburban yard, they likely lack some of the common predators as they have in a natural area, but we do have a fox or two and raccoons roaming around. We also, at times, hear coyotes. After all, we think one of those predators disturbed the duck nest. Interestingly, I was working in my rose bed yesterday and found an egg. It had to have been placed since I took off some and redistributed the remainder of the mulch in the bed, which was about mid-April. We think it is one of Henrietta's eggs. What creature placed it there, I don't know, but I doubt it was a squirrel. How would they transport it? I doubt their mouth is sufficiently large to hold the egg.

Egg in rose bed, among the leaf mulch
 29 May 2024

As much as we don't like the several time a year squirrel conventions in our yard, they do provide, at times, some amusing moments. That is the least they can do for us for hosting the squirrel sex convention.