Squirrels squirrels squirrels squirrels squirrels
September 17, 2010 10:26 AM Subscribe
The Squirrel in our Window. A website documenting a squirrel lady raising her squirrel babies.
BONUS FEATURE: BRITISH MAN IS FRIENDS WITH A SQUIRREL
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble
What's with all the squirrels today? Steve Martin's Twitter feed (!) was non-stop squirrels all morning.
I'm not complaining, squirrels are awesome, as are Greg Nog posts, but I'm having a plate -o- shrimp thing going on with them today.
posted by bondcliff at 10:35 AM on September 17, 2010
I'm not complaining, squirrels are awesome, as are Greg Nog posts, but I'm having a plate -o- shrimp thing going on with them today.
posted by bondcliff at 10:35 AM on September 17, 2010
I like how squirrels all get fat at exactly the same time in the late fall.
posted by Ouisch at 10:38 AM on September 17, 2010
posted by Ouisch at 10:38 AM on September 17, 2010
I approve of this post.
posted by sciurus at 10:42 AM on September 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by sciurus at 10:42 AM on September 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
This is one of the strangest sites I've seen in some time. I have no idea how these people got their cats squirrels wedged into their scanners, or why.
That said, this is terribly cute.
posted by Verdant at 10:57 AM on September 17, 2010
That said, this is terribly cute.
posted by Verdant at 10:57 AM on September 17, 2010
I hate squirrels.
I really like chipmunks though.
posted by padraigin at 11:01 AM on September 17, 2010
I really like chipmunks though.
posted by padraigin at 11:01 AM on September 17, 2010
I fucking love squirrels. Always have. Always will. They are like giant furry lizards.
posted by punkfloyd at 11:09 AM on September 17, 2010 [7 favorites]
posted by punkfloyd at 11:09 AM on September 17, 2010 [7 favorites]
I can't imagine having the diligence to document something like this for over a year. This is awfully impressive.
posted by kchiou at 11:30 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by kchiou at 11:30 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
I love squirrels, even though the ones in my neighborhood are generally total dicks. Still, you have to love the furry little bastards.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 11:33 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by bitter-girl.com at 11:33 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
They are like giant furry lizards.
Or really cute rats.
We get two types of squirrels in my neighborhood. The common Eastern gray squirrel ("Dude, you gonna eat that?"), and the Douglas squirrel ("THIS IS MY TREE. MINE. MINE, I TELL YOU. MINE.").
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:41 AM on September 17, 2010 [5 favorites]
Or really cute rats.
We get two types of squirrels in my neighborhood. The common Eastern gray squirrel ("Dude, you gonna eat that?"), and the Douglas squirrel ("THIS IS MY TREE. MINE. MINE, I TELL YOU. MINE.").
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 11:41 AM on September 17, 2010 [5 favorites]
We get one type of squirrel in my yard. The common Shit-Theres-A-Dog squirrel. We had to intervene so a mother squirrel could safely carry her baby across the yard the other day.
posted by onhazier at 11:49 AM on September 17, 2010
posted by onhazier at 11:49 AM on September 17, 2010
Sadly we have suicidal squirrels on our street who run out in front of cars and just sit there. If they are not suicidal they are on a HUGE power trip because they always make me stop.
posted by punkfloyd at 11:55 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by punkfloyd at 11:55 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
Nice, but still not as awesome as Squirrel Girl.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:11 PM on September 17, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:11 PM on September 17, 2010 [3 favorites]
dozing dashboard squirrel FTW
posted by The Whelk at 12:14 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by The Whelk at 12:14 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
Loved this! I had a squirrel buddy when I was a kid, but we weren't quite as close as Nutty and Mr. Hattersley, seen in the linked video. That was pretty cool and brought back of a flood of memories.
My squirrel wasn't quite as tame as his, and he wouldn't sit still for things like dressing up, but heck, that's what the frogs of my youth were for! If you've never seen a posse of bullfrogs dressed in Barbie clothing, all hanging out in Barbie's house and chilling in and around her pool, I'm sorry. In my experience, frogs'll pretty much let you do anything with them if they're sufficiently relaxed and you're not scaring or harming them. There was a big frog pond in a clearing in the woods across the road from our house, and I practically lived there during the summer in the fort I built, catching, playing with, and releasing frogs, snakes, turtles, lizards, you name it. If it lived in/around that pond, I named it and befriended it. And if it was a green grass snake, I probably wore it as jewelry at some point. So pretty!
I grew up in the woods, on a river in Michigan, and honestly it wasn't all that uncommon to form relationships of some sort with the wildlife in my "neighborhood." I was taught wildlife/habitat conservation basically from birth, and my animal friends were not ever harmed -- barring the rare accident or mistake in judgment -- but they were a huge part of my childhood. It's not like there were neighbor kids to play with; we lived kinda far out. When a recognized animal-friend would pass away, the funerals were fairly elaborate and always respectful. I improvised dozens of coffins and funeral boats when I was a kid. Some friends' corpses were buried, others were set out on the river in a (sometimes flaming) origami boat, depending on their species, the cause of their demise, and whether the river-dwellers liked to dine on them. Respectful eulogies were written, and tears were invariably shed for the fallen.
I used to keep little packets of birdseed in my mittens when I'd go sledding down the big hill our house was built on, so that when I got to the bottom I could lie still in the snow and let the chickadees and nuthatches land on me to get their snacks. It was so silent and beautiful. Those little birds weigh practically nothing; it's kind of amazing to see, but not feel, a dozen of them coming and going, skittering across your snowsuit.
My next-door neighbor (read: half a mile away) had two or three deer that used his tool shed on and off during the very cold winter months. We eventually made them their own "apartment" tricked out with blankets and straw, and we rigged the door so that they could come and go as needed. They seemed to dig having a safe, warm place to be during the cold winter days. I also hung out with those deer and several others as I waited for my school bus in the fall and winter mornings. We had bags and bags and bags of apples from our tree that we would store every fall, and it was my job to portion them out to the deer all winter long. Winters in northern Michigan can get harsh; there's little food to be found in late January through March, and the does usually had a fawn or two on board, and they required extra feeding. As a kid, I felt a great responsibility to keep the deer around us healthy; I took my job of watching over them and feeding them very, very seriously. They were my friends!
It was all very Snow White, certain parts of my childhood.
posted by heyho at 12:16 PM on September 17, 2010 [31 favorites]
My squirrel wasn't quite as tame as his, and he wouldn't sit still for things like dressing up, but heck, that's what the frogs of my youth were for! If you've never seen a posse of bullfrogs dressed in Barbie clothing, all hanging out in Barbie's house and chilling in and around her pool, I'm sorry. In my experience, frogs'll pretty much let you do anything with them if they're sufficiently relaxed and you're not scaring or harming them. There was a big frog pond in a clearing in the woods across the road from our house, and I practically lived there during the summer in the fort I built, catching, playing with, and releasing frogs, snakes, turtles, lizards, you name it. If it lived in/around that pond, I named it and befriended it. And if it was a green grass snake, I probably wore it as jewelry at some point. So pretty!
I grew up in the woods, on a river in Michigan, and honestly it wasn't all that uncommon to form relationships of some sort with the wildlife in my "neighborhood." I was taught wildlife/habitat conservation basically from birth, and my animal friends were not ever harmed -- barring the rare accident or mistake in judgment -- but they were a huge part of my childhood. It's not like there were neighbor kids to play with; we lived kinda far out. When a recognized animal-friend would pass away, the funerals were fairly elaborate and always respectful. I improvised dozens of coffins and funeral boats when I was a kid. Some friends' corpses were buried, others were set out on the river in a (sometimes flaming) origami boat, depending on their species, the cause of their demise, and whether the river-dwellers liked to dine on them. Respectful eulogies were written, and tears were invariably shed for the fallen.
I used to keep little packets of birdseed in my mittens when I'd go sledding down the big hill our house was built on, so that when I got to the bottom I could lie still in the snow and let the chickadees and nuthatches land on me to get their snacks. It was so silent and beautiful. Those little birds weigh practically nothing; it's kind of amazing to see, but not feel, a dozen of them coming and going, skittering across your snowsuit.
My next-door neighbor (read: half a mile away) had two or three deer that used his tool shed on and off during the very cold winter months. We eventually made them their own "apartment" tricked out with blankets and straw, and we rigged the door so that they could come and go as needed. They seemed to dig having a safe, warm place to be during the cold winter days. I also hung out with those deer and several others as I waited for my school bus in the fall and winter mornings. We had bags and bags and bags of apples from our tree that we would store every fall, and it was my job to portion them out to the deer all winter long. Winters in northern Michigan can get harsh; there's little food to be found in late January through March, and the does usually had a fawn or two on board, and they required extra feeding. As a kid, I felt a great responsibility to keep the deer around us healthy; I took my job of watching over them and feeding them very, very seriously. They were my friends!
It was all very Snow White, certain parts of my childhood.
posted by heyho at 12:16 PM on September 17, 2010 [31 favorites]
This is just cool. Squirrels are vermin if thy are in a city, but they are so cute.
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 12:51 PM on September 17, 2010
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 12:51 PM on September 17, 2010
Back at GSU there were some squirrels with rather a lot of personality. Two instances come to mind.
One day I was walking across campus and I heard this weird, quiet, yet insistent noise. Like "Ksssshhh! Kssshhh!" I turned to look for it. It was a squirrel in a small tree, hissing and staring DIRECTLY AT ME, guarding his precious estate like a dog in a yard. Rather unnerving.
The other time I was walking with a friend on the sidewalk towards the Biology building. We were talking and progressingly slowly, when we noticed that there was a squirrel on the concrete ahead of us. Instead of leaving the sidewalk however, he skittered along it, ahead of us. Unfortunately for him, the building we were talking towards was close, and had a slight bit of an enclosed alcove where the steps lead up to the door, and he was already fairly trapped between us and the door.
We stepped forward, expecting that it'd run between us or around us. Instead, it jumped up, tiny legs finding purchase on the brick wall on the side the alcove at about waist height to us, them leaped off the brick, videogame walljump style, over our heads, landed on the sidewalk behind us, then scampered off to the trees. Rather ingenious, I thought.
posted by JHarris at 1:27 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
One day I was walking across campus and I heard this weird, quiet, yet insistent noise. Like "Ksssshhh! Kssshhh!" I turned to look for it. It was a squirrel in a small tree, hissing and staring DIRECTLY AT ME, guarding his precious estate like a dog in a yard. Rather unnerving.
The other time I was walking with a friend on the sidewalk towards the Biology building. We were talking and progressingly slowly, when we noticed that there was a squirrel on the concrete ahead of us. Instead of leaving the sidewalk however, he skittered along it, ahead of us. Unfortunately for him, the building we were talking towards was close, and had a slight bit of an enclosed alcove where the steps lead up to the door, and he was already fairly trapped between us and the door.
We stepped forward, expecting that it'd run between us or around us. Instead, it jumped up, tiny legs finding purchase on the brick wall on the side the alcove at about waist height to us, them leaped off the brick, videogame walljump style, over our heads, landed on the sidewalk behind us, then scampered off to the trees. Rather ingenious, I thought.
posted by JHarris at 1:27 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
Yes, squirrel babies are cute, but they're not cute enough to erase the sight of two adult squirrels having procreative squirrel sex right there in front of you. I swear, I swear, they leer at you while they're doing it.
posted by mudpuppie at 3:26 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by mudpuppie at 3:26 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
At that point, mudpuppie, all the squirrel underpants in the world aren't going to help you.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 4:44 PM on September 17, 2010
posted by bitter-girl.com at 4:44 PM on September 17, 2010
Oh my god I loved the Bonus British Man and His Squirrel.
posted by oneirodynia at 5:37 PM on September 17, 2010
posted by oneirodynia at 5:37 PM on September 17, 2010
Thanks to the Onion, I have been calling every squirrel (male or female) Danny.
posted by stannate at 5:16 PM on September 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by stannate at 5:16 PM on September 20, 2010 [1 favorite]
I like just saying the word "squirrel."
Squirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrel!
posted by not_on_display at 10:44 AM on October 14, 2010
Squirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrelsquirrel!
posted by not_on_display at 10:44 AM on October 14, 2010
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Plus, if you didn't know better, a lot of these pictures could be named "I put a baby squirrel in my scanner. Look what came out!"
posted by Think_Long at 10:27 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]