Megan's Nature Nook
Nature Notes, Phenology, Photography, Fun Facts, Trips, Maybe Even a Bad Joke or Two... and More!
Happy Squirrel Appreciation Day! Seems like you mention the word "squirrel" and everybody has a story to tell. With squirrels, people seem to either love 'em or hate 'em. If you feed the birds this could go either way for you. Maybe you enjoy watching them scamper around and eat, or you're always plotting against them and trying to stay one step ahead of them to keep them out of the feeders. Either way, squirrels add a little excitement to our yards. I think squirrels are fun to watch and like to see them scampering around under the feeders, but once they're in and on my feeders, then I don't like them as much! When I was younger we used to have bird feeders up in the winter, but the deer and squirrels became too much of a nuisance and were breaking the feeders so we stopped putting them up. Last year since I was going to be around home more in the winter I asked if we could put them up again. I came home one weekend to find this nifty pully system my dad had made to keep the deer and squirrels away from the feeder! The feeder is strategically placed so the squirrels wouldn’t try jumping from the deck or any nearby trees. It is also tall enough that they cannot jump up, and the deer can’t reach it even when standing on their back legs. We did have a mishap of a squirrel being able to get far enough up the slippery PVC pipe to reach the rope and chewed right through it, resulting in the feeder falling and a squirrel feeding frenzy. Since then, the chimney pipe has been installed and that is big enough around and slippery enough that they cannot climb it. Our second feeding station is a shepherd’s hook which is just all too easy for the squirrels to scale and get to the delicious suet. Last year there were numerous times the squirrels would steal the whole suet cake and make off with it, even when I tried to wire it shut, they would just break the other end open! Crafty little buggers. This year I tried something new to keep them off. A childhood favorite, the Slinky has been working well so far! The Slinky hangs down and when the squirrel tries to climb it, it will just stretch down and the squirrel will be on the ground again. So far there have been no suet thieves this year! I was even prepared with using twist ties to keep the suet feeder shut. So far these “squirrel proof” feeders have been working in our yard, even with the five gray squirrels and red squirrel I see scampering around. Hopefully they will continue to work and the squirrels won’t be able to outsmart us once again! Although at times squirrels can be annoying and there just doesn't seem to be a way to stop them, you do have to give them credit. They are smart, creative, acrobatic, strong, little creatures with a whole lot of determination! Take a little time to appreciate them today (and every day). Maybe even toss them a little extra seed under the feeders as a special treat in honor of their special day. Happy Squirrel Appreciation Day! Baldy the Squirrel Update:For those of you that have been following my Blog, in November I wrote a post about Baldy, a little red squirrel that had hair loss. You can read A Squirrel with a Mohawk?! by clicking on the link. Here is a Baldy Update!
In the beginning of December, I thought that I had seen Baldy hanging out under the feeders again. The squirrel looked like it had grown some fur in, but it was still a bit sparse. And the tail was still quite scraggly. I kept trying to get a picture, but with the crunchy snow he would hear me and run off before I could get close enough for a picture. This week while I was watching the feeders during lunch, I saw a little red squirrel that looked just a little different than the others. I used the viewing scope near the window to get a closer look, and sure enough, it looked like Baldy! This squirrel had a not so fluffy tail, and when you looked close there was a nice dark patch of red fur that ran down his back (where the mohawk was), and the sides were a lighter color (where the white fuzz had originally been). Baldy has survived the few cold snaps we’ve gotten and is growing his fur back! It's not the best picture, because I had to Digiscope and take it with phone camera through the viewing scope, but you can still see the color differences! He is facing downward on the post, right under the tan squirrel guard. I'm just happy to see he's doing alright.
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Usually once a week I work down at the Rapids Lake Education & Visitor Center in Carver, MN. Last week, after a walk, on my way back up the path to the Visitor Center, I stopped at the bird feeders for a bit to watch. Right away something unusual caught my eye. Its white body stuck out from the brown, tan, and green vegetation under the feeders. Was it a bird? A mouse? A squirrel?? Yes, it was a squirrel! But not just any squirrel; a partially bald Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) with a mohawk down its back! I had never seen anything like this before, so I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out my phone to see if I could snap a picture before it scurried away. Unfortunately for me, my phone does not have a very good camera, but I did manage to get a few pictures. Despite having terrible pictures, I was still pretty excited about this crazy bald squirrel I had seen so I sent a few pictures to my nature loving friends anyways. I wanted to share with them this very interesting, very odd, little red squirrel! Two days later I was down at the Rapids Lake again and kept checking out the window to see if I could spot “Baldy.” I hadn’t seen him all morning and was starting to wonder if something had happened, but in the afternoon, I finally saw him eating seeds under the feeders. This week I remembered to bring my camera in hopes of seeing Baldy and being able to get a better picture. Lucky for me, when I looked out the window at lunch, Baldy was there again under the feeders. I quickly grabbed my camera and stealthily snuck up to the feeders to get a few pictures. Here is Baldy: See how he has just a narrow strip of hair down his back, and some on the front legs, head, and feet? And he’s missing the fluffy squirrel tail! The Naturalist in me had me wondering why this little squirrel was partially bald, so I did a little research on hair loss in squirrels. Here is what I found: Hairless Squirrel Causes 1. Mange - caused by microscopic mites that burrow into the skin.
I am guessing that Baldy has a fungal disease since his skin doesn’t seem to have any problems, just the hair issue. Also, he does seem to have some white fuzz on the “bald” spots, which could be a result of hair breaking off near the skin. Hopefully he can build up immunity soon and start growing hair back before it gets too cold! Otherwise he may be needing a squirrel sized sweater. As for now, it doesn’t seem to be bothering him. I’ll continue to keep an eye out for Baldy and hopefully see some hair growing back soon. Until then, maybe the mohawk will make him look like a Tough Guy Squirrel and he won’t be made fun of for balding by the other squirrels and birdies at the feeder. Come see Baldy for yourself at the Rapids Lake Education & Visitor Center under the feeders happily munching away. For more information about Squirrel Hair Loss, visit: https://www.agriculture.purdue.edu/fnr/wildlife/newsletter/may05.html https://sciencing.com/squirrels-lose-hair-5090876.html UPDATE: To read an update on Baldy the squirrel and hear how he is doing, click on the button below |
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