The Squirrely Siblings

Most people in the U.S. don’t realize that squirrels aren’t found in many other countries….New Zealand and Australia included. Having grown up around squirrels, I took them for granted and mostly didn’t give them a second thought. That was, until I came back to the U.S. and had a new found love for them. Ten years without squirrels makes them look super cute when you see them again.

While staying with mom for the first couple of years, I made squirrel friends and even named one Nicky (due to the nick in her ear so I could tell her apart from the rest). I would feed her and she would climb up the big tree to be somewhat eye to eye with me on my balcony and chatter to me about something. I would call her name and click my tongue 5 times and she’d eventually appear. Nicky was fed well and would even leave me gifts to show her appreciation. I missed her when I moved to Steve’s.

It didn’t take long to make new friends over the harsh winter and I felt bad for these kids so I, once again, fed them well up on the deck. Just like I did with baby Cardrona the hedgehog, they would get fed and watered before me. But now that it was freezing outside, they would get warm water to help start their day off right, steaming in the cold temperatures. I would even see one put her front feet in the water to warm them up!

Well, first it was just a couple of squirrels and then it became the entire extended family with up to 8 showing up for a feed on really cold days. I noticed a runt that I felt sorry for and would get chased off from the food dishes. She was among the litter that was born at the end of the season and she had a few siblings. I named her Consuela and her brother (or sister, at the time) Billie Jo. I figured Billie Jo could be a boy or girl. She was noticeably bigger. I honestly didn’t think Consuela would even make it through the winter, but she showed up every single day to get what she could.

We have some big pines and sometimes a hawk flies very low over the yard, looking for a tasty morsel called squirrel. I saw Consuela on a “naked” branch and the hawk was trying to get to her. She was really stuck with nowhere to go so I ran out there and chased the hawk away and she managed to escape. I waved my fist at her and said, “You owe me!”

Once Spring came, I decided to cut back on the feeding because 1) I was starting my garden and didn’t want them digging through it; 2) they needed to become wild again and not dependent upon me to feed them; 3) they were chewing on the new deck rails to sharpen their teeth.

This took some time to teach them that they were no longer welcome up here. Oddly, they understand ‘Oi!!’ which is what I got used to saying living down under in place of “HEY!!” I did put some water down below the deck because I’m not THAT evil. We also started a compost pile out back where they could graze if they wanted to. I would often have to yell at Consuela to stop digging in my plants and go away which also made Steve feel bad for her. He’d tell me that she didn’t know why she was getting yelled at by her supposed “friend” and she was confused.

One day I happened to be watching outside and saw the hawk chase Consuela clean across the yard and I ran out there to scream at it, hoping it wouldn’t pick her up and carry her away. She made it to the trees, but only barely. I think she knew I tried to save her AGAIN.

I noticed there was something sitting on the rocking chair on the front patio one day, something big and black, but I couldn’t be bothered to see what it was for a few days. Steve mentioned it, too and I said I had no idea what it was. Then one day I came home and lo and behold, that thing had been moved right next to the door on a narrow ledge and it was a black walnut. Very unusual because I don’t even know where a walnut tree is. I asked him if he moved it there and he said no. Then the lightbulb went off. Consuela gifted it to me!

Out of sheer curiosity, I put it out on the back deck to see if I could catch someone either playing with it or taking it away (let’s call it a re-gift). Within a couple of hours, it was gone. I’m sure she or her brother (now named Billy Joe) took it because they are coveted items among squirrels.

I’m not sure if that foodie gift was a thank you or a hint they wanted MORE food or that they thought I was starving and wanted to feed me since I hadn’t been giving them as much fodder lately. What are they THINKING!? I really want to know.

I had put a very large planter out on the deck to put tomato plants in and a plastic saucer under it so it didn’t rot the deck. I’d notice that Consuela liked to drink the dirt water out of it and she’d come up around 8:15 in the morning and have her “dirt coffee” then nose around the plants, subsequently getting yelled at and fleeing the scene. It took a while, but she eventually got the message (plus the plants started getting in the way of her digging).

On the weekends, we’d sit in the living room which looks out onto the deck and Steve would see her come up and have her dirt coffee and tell me, “Don’t yell at her….”. So I’d just watch and she’d have her drink and slink off down the steps. Sometimes she’d hover over the twice protected strawberry patch, hoping to sneak in there and I’d stand at the door, locking eyes with her and she’d understand she was about to get yelled at and leave. She IS learning.

I had picked up a small deer antler at a thrift store for $1 and knowing that squirrels love to sharpen their teeth on them, drilled a hole through it and put it in the crook of a tree she visits. I called her name as I was nailing it in and she appeared, saying “hi” in her own way. They have not chewed on it just yet.

No doubt, the antics will continue and I’ll be making peace with Consuela so she knows we’re still friends. This was her today when I came to check on the antler (and subsequently, the same tree mentioned above when the hawk tried to get her). She bounced down the first tree a few feet from me to say good morning. That was sweet of her. I’m glad she’s pretty forgiving.