Sunday, January 21, 2018

Squirrel Appreciation Day

Squirrel Appreciation Day is a holiday which is celebrated on January 21st every year to celebrate and honor squirrels and the contribution they make to the environment. On this day, people are encouraged to head out into the woods or at least, to their local park to look for their favorite types of squirrels and to leave nuts and seeds ...
A peanut will do...


Saturday, January 20, 2018

Respite

50 degrees and sunny! It sure feels good! I expected to see all the squirrels out prancing around the green in the fine weather! Instead, there was barely a squirrel in sight. So what's the story? Since it's not so cold they don't need as much food to produce heat? Beaten down and just wanting a long winter's nap? Poor little things.

Monday, January 15, 2018

Tomorrow Will Be Better

Two very cold days with temperatures in the low 20s are coming to an end. Tomorrow the temperatures will rise to decent numbers. I know this, but they don't. For all they know, they could be in for another horrifying two weeks like the ones they just went through. Can they even remember that? Or can they project into the future? I don't know, maybe they only live day-to-day, but I think they must have some kind of memory. At any rate, they are in for a nice surprise tomorrow when things warm  up.


I've been amazed at their capacity to sustain cold temperatures, They must have some "magic potion". It turns out that their cousins the ground squirrels, and some other rodents that hibernate, do have some "magical" ability to adjust their body temperatures to the cold. It's a specialized protein called TRPM8 that helps them resist the cold. Now I know our tree squirrels don't have that, but they must have something similar going on that helps them get through this crazy cold weather.  As for me, I do my part by supplying the food. Food = energy = heat.

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Dirty Old Town

At first fall it's lovely...




But it soon starts to look like this...

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

The Bomb Cyclone


Emergency Alert
How to prepare now:
Stay indoors during the storm. Prolonged exposure to cold can cause hypothermia.



But what about the squirrels?