Ladies in Waiting

I've been feeding two squirrels recently who look like they're about to give birth... one is gray, one is black. They're always hungry!

Please Don't Feed The Squirrels!

So how will the squirrels eat? Do these people think that the squirrels get their food from the forest?

Squirrels, unless under some sort of duress, are normally friendly and rather shy. Not only that, they're extremely polite when they're being fed! I'm often charmed by that observation when I'm feeding them.

 

I've been remiss recently due to other concerns and was looking forward to getting back to a regular feeding cycle with them in the fall, as the cooler weather starts up and appetites increase. Plus, the last few times I was at PCV, it was disturbing to see so many squirrels hanging around garbage cans. That told me that they're not getting enough to eat. And now they're going to get even less? I doubt they'll be able to survive. There won't be any more charming "cohabitation" at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.

 

Maybe what they need is a more formal program to feed the squirrels, or maybe they could  just enforce feeding restrictions around the playgrounds. But as their letter states, the well-being of humans is above all of the utmost importance, and wild animals will always play a poor second to that.

Pinky: Son of Spunky

Well, actually more like great-grandson or great-great grandson, I guess.
This little squirrel had so much spunk that he reminded me of my dear old friend Spunky, who was featured a lot on this blog. He had the same cute face and spunky personality. It was good to think that Spunky's genes had survived!

Pinky managed to survive the entire winter not only with no winter coat, but with no coat at all, due to a bad case of what looked like mange. But that didn't phase him: he would always run circles around the other larger squirrels, and managed to evade their bullying. We had a lot of fun playing "peanuts" with him: we'd throw a peanut, he'd grab it, go bury it, then come back for another. This went on forever. 

I was really looking forward to this little guy getting better and growing some fur and bonding with me the way Spunky used to do. But it was not to be. Right after I took these pictures there was a big Nor'easter, and I never saw Pinky again.

National Maple Syrup Day

Photo by Beebz the Squirrel @SquirrelBeebz

National Brownie Day

Happy National Brownie Day!

Hobo Nickel Squirrel

Hobo nickels are a type of human folk art created by etching and carving coins.  This one is particularly well done.
From ‏@MuhlenSquirrel

Winter is Coming

But some of the trees don't know it.

A tree blooms in December

And some of the squirrels don't know it.

The first day of winter - the winter solstice - is only weeks away.  This time of year, we usually see the big winter coats coming out, along with the cute white mittens and ear muffs.

But so far we haven't been seeing much of that. Another concern: while there are usually many mouths to feed as soon as there's a chill in the air, now there are not so many. Where have all the squirrels gone?

Conjecture: maybe the drought and extreme heat of the summer months killed many of our squirrels. Yes, it's not just happening out west -- the state of New York has also been in a drought, as has the neighboring state of New Jersey. New York is somewhat improved, and is currently in a drought watch, which is the first of four levels of state drought advisories ("watch," "warning," "emergency" and "disaster").

I'm concerned that our little friends may be victims of climate change.

National Cookie Day

Yes, I know it's #NationalCookieDay, but I think I've had a little too much cream filling.

Photo by Beebz the Squirrel @SquirrelBeebz

A Squirrel's Thanksgiving

Wasn't it nice of Peter Cooper Village to put out this spread for us!

is that a squirrel on that pumpkin?

I do believe it is!

Thanksgiving bounty

nibbles

taking a break

it's different...

it's all mine! 

pumpkin diving

digging in

 making headway

God is good!

Happy Thanksgiving to all the little critters!

BT: A Star is Born

Move over Mama - a new ET has arrived! In this case ET stands for enfant terrible, but since we already have an ET (that's Mama, the evil twin) we're calling this new arrival Baby ET, or BT for short.

BT

Today I was able to get up close and personal with BT - well, sort of - when she came over to the big tree where ET likes to sit and sat right on ET's throne.

It's funny to see her mimic ET when she probably doesn't even know what's up yet. It's the old question: how much of behavior is genetic and how much is learned? Well all I can say is that ET has had quite a few generations of babies, and this is the first one I've seen that acts exactly like her. Oh joy, another ET!

Mean Mama

 She's a delight to watch. I call her "she" because of the way she commandeered the tree today. This is common behavior among adult female squirrels, but seeing it in a baby squirrel was cuteness overload. It was so funny to see the baby acting like queen of the universe! She loves chasing her siblings, but I have yet to see her confront ET.

Skirting the issue: don't mess with Mama!

But for now she was just having fun taking on a flock of pigeons that were there searching for edible scraps among the peanut shells. The fact that they were much bigger didn't bother her at all. That's the spirit! The little devil is just like her Mom. Oh, and she's a natural beauty as well. Get ready, boys, here she comes!

The babies are down!

ET's babies have started coming down from the tree! 

In the last few days they've been venturing out of their safety zone, going father afield and sampling some of the bounties of the new world.

Hiding Nuts is Hard Work

National Squirrel Appreciation Day

Happy National Squirrel Appreciation Day! These nutty facts might just make you embrace the bandit, the acrobat, the gardener and the trickster within each squirrel today: http://bit.ly/1CaTF8y

Cats and Squirrels

Cats and Dogs

Post by Stylish Eve.

HALLOWEEN

Spooky

 

Mmmm...

 

Trick

OR

Treat

 

Happy Halloween!