I Love Those Crazy Squirrels (Even if They’re Not So Nuts About Me)
Lesson 48: Three things you probably never knew about squirrels
Squirrels are great fun to chase any time of the year, but I see them most in the fall when they’re busy gathering and hiding food for winter. Their coats are lighter this time of year, their bodies turning silver-grey and their faces changing from buffy-brown to white. Last week, I talked about why I love the fall. In this post, I’ll talk about why I love squirrels (especially in the fall), and you’ll learn three things you probably didn’t know about them.
Did you know squirrels have four toes on their front feet, but five on their back ones?
At first glance, they look like human hands. Their front paws have four long digits plus a short, stubby thumb; but five long digits on the back paws.
Claws allow them to grasp tiny bumps in the bark of a tree and scale a massive trunk; yet the same toothpick-sized digits can also wrap around a twig and allow climbing the highest branches. And, they can hold a nut in a single paw.
They’re equally adept at either hopping or running on the ground, depending on the situation. And, of course, those amazing paws can climb trees, hold nuts, and play the intro to Rhapsody in Blue on the clarinet.
Did you know squirrels’ back legs are double-jointed?
Think about it. Humans can climb up a tree, but did you ever consider climbing down head-first? Those crazy squirrels can do it. They climb up a tree trunk using their hook-like claws to grasp tiny bumps in the bark. They climb down the same way, but it wouldn’t work if the claws were all facing forward. Instead, they turn their back paws around 180 degrees. This is the trick that allows them to hang onto a tree trunk upside-down, or climb down head-first.
People call my humans “tree huggers”, but they’ve got nothing on a squirrel!
I saw a squirrel on the ground during my last walk. My friend Flash, a pit bull-labrador mix, was coming in the opposite direction and spied the squirrel from a distance. Little Nutty’s pea-sized ears perked up, and his dark black eyes bulged as he watched Flash. He seemed to be focused on the bigger dog, so I went into a pouncing crouch, creeping along the ground like a lioness stalking her prey. I wanted to signal Flash to stay quiet so we could corner the squirrel between us, and for a moment, we were close. The squirrel sat up, mouth moving noiselessly, tail twitching nervously.
Until my human saw Flash’s human and yelled, “Hi, Joe!”
The squirrel leaped nearly ten feet to a nearby oak tree before I could whisper, “Hush!”
Once on the tree trunk, the squirrel climbed fifteen feet to the first branch. There he sat chattering, scolding us for interrupting his valuable nut-gathering time. His cheeks bulged larger than his eyes, and I wondered how he could scold without dropping the cache of food from his jowls.
Speaking of nuts, it can be very frustrating to train your human to sneak up on something. Thousands of years of stalking hamburger patties in an air-conditioned grocery store have dulled their senses and their minds.
But back to my story. I walked beneath the oak tree, watching the squirrel climb higher, jumping branch to branch like Tarzan. I wished I could follow.
As he neared the uppermost branches, his hind paws grabbed the tree, and he hung upside down, still clicking his mouth and twitching his tail, looking directly at me. Flash had moved on.
The squirrel took an acorn from his mouth, and I watched as it fell from his forepaw and bounced to the ground.
Hey, mister, you dropped one. Let me get it for you.
Let me see, I think it was this… ouch! That landed on my butt. Ouch! That one landed on my head! Hey, that was no accident, was it?
Come down here, you nut job, and I’ll show you some of MY toys. Do you know how to play Mousetrap? How about Operation?
A squirrel hides behind its own tail
Did you know the word “Squirrel” comes from the Greek for “Shadow Tail”? That’s because squirrels use their long, bushy tails to cast a shadow which obscures their presence from predators. Pretty neat, huh?
And I’ve learned something else about squirrels in the fall: they’re bulking up. Which means they’re slowing down. Which just might give me a better chance at catching one.
I’m coming for you, mein Freund!
October is Squirrel Awareness Month
Okay, I’m a little late on this one, but do you want to learn more about squirrels? Here’s some interesting reading about my used-to-be-favorite rodents.
When the weather would get into the teens and the ground was frozen I'd put out food for the birds. Which means you end up feeding the larcenous squirrels as well. Once I put out a Reese's NutRageous bar which I had lathered with peanut butter and bacon fat to keep the squirrel occupied while the birds were at the feeder. Don't ask me where that furry freeloader put it but he ate the entire thing!