The squirrels are abundant on and around our bit of Welsh hillside, well with so much woodland you would expect it wouldn't you. Unfortunately all ours are grey but if you venture forty minutes up the road and over the bridge onto the Isle of Anglesey they would all be Red, and thankfully thriving.
They spend this time of year planting and replanting their nuts in the ground, then come the colder, hungrier weather they spend all their time trying to remember where they planted their nuts in the ground ... and lots of little holes appear.
They don't have brilliant memories because every year we find lots of baby trees coming up in the grass, handy for transplanting into the woodland but each one representing a meal missed and a hole dug in the wrong place.
"Stop eyeing up my rhubarb patch ... go back to your nut gathering!!"
I took this delightful photo back in July, when this particular squirrel ... and no doubt at least a dozen of his mates ... visited the Chicken World on the hillside to help himself to layers pellets for breakfast every morning.
These photos were not taken with a zoom lens ...
... I really was this close to the cheeky little monkey squirrel.
Sue xx
On the subject of squirrels, on two occasions I have found a squirrel has got into my enclosed chicken run (which is meant to be secure). I have panicked and run down the garden to get the evict the squirrel (luckily squirrel got out of a tiny hole in the wire so we ware able to fix it). My question is, however, do you think that a squirrel would attack a chicken, especially if it was in an enclosed space like my run? They were probably just after the layers pellets, but I am not sure if the chickens would provoke them. I have heard that squirrels can be very nasty, especially when cornered. I do like to see them, but not in my run!! Kind regards, Louise S, Cheshire.
ReplyDeleteThese squirrels were in with our chickens on a daily basis. A normal sized chicken, as opposed to a small bantam, especially one with friends close by could easily defend itself against a squirrel.
DeleteOur chickens chase the squirrels off when they get sick of them or want the food for themselves, so no problems here.
Lovely photos. I watched a squirrel a couple of weeks ago burying walnuts like a madman. He also checked out the bird table to see if there was anything worth stealing.
ReplyDeleteWe have a squirrel down the street from us and he or perhaps she (how does one tell them apart) has found a lovely hidey hole in an old tree. Hope it remembers where.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
very cute
ReplyDeletemy daughter was fascinated by them when she visited London, we don't have them here in Australia
thanx for sharing
Newark Cemetery is full of them at the moment and they will be active all winter if it stays mild-ish. Normally if you look in one direction, you will see at least three!
ReplyDeleteOh don't! They're spending all their days digging up the lawn at the moment and the borders. The place would be an oak tree plantation if left untended. At least it keeps them off the bird feeders.. for now. Come winter they'll be back to playing on 'their' twirler and costing me a fortune in batteries.
ReplyDeleteThey never seem to show any real fear of humans do they? (unlike the reds)
ReplyDeleteAnd they run rings round Tess when she tries to catch them = no chance!
We have grey, black and brown squirrels here. I'm always finding peanuts in my flower pots where the squirrels have hid them. I'm more concerned about skunks!! Last summer my girlfriend had one that took up residence under her front steps and then had 3 babies! It took a LOT of money to 'evict' them and then make her property skunk proof. DIL phoned this morning to say she heard some weird noises outside at 3a.m. When she flicked the lights on there was a skunk on the deck, outside her kitchen door. She had put a bag of garbage on the deck in the evening and then forgot to put it in the garbage can. The skunk was there for a midnight snack! She banged on the window and yelled and it ran away and hopefully he/she won't be back as all the garbage has GONE!!
ReplyDeleteThe squirrels in our garden are very cheeky and very bold indeed. They dig holes all over the place and we get loads of oak trees coming up - no where here to move them to though and we already have two in our garden! - so they miss a lot of meals!!
ReplyDeleteSue, just think what you could take if you did have a zoom lens. Seriously though, the squirrel sat on the fence shot when cropped to a 'frame in a frame' type image would make a great greetings card shot. Graham. (lovely brother etc).
ReplyDeleteI love the last photo. I do love the cheeky little things x
ReplyDeleteloved visiting your site, i live in Adelaide South Australia, but i came here from England when I was 6. I am an avid viewer of Escape to The Country and when I win the Lottery, I'm coming back!
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Such an enjoyable read. Thank you for your effort!
Joyce Hallsworth.