12 thoughts on “Squirrels”

  1. California classifies squirrels as fur-bearing mammals (trivially true, but the state thinks that you might want to hunt them for their fur, and demands a cut). The upshot is that a license is required for trapping or hunting.

    It is allowed (I think, it’s been a while since I checked on this) to live trap squirrels and transport native species some distance away to release; invasive species can be killed. California says that only the invasive ones are pests.

  2. Great article, Rand! As you know, I can add a ton of squirrel stories to the list. In fact, the little guy who comes to the door for a walnut on a regular basis finally came inside one day. Not a big deal, he just looked around for a minute, then looked up at me for his walnut, caught it, and scampered off. I find that level of interaction with a wild animal fascinating.

    One thing I can add to the knowledge base is what happens to eastern gray squirrels who somehow lose their tails. One of our little guys had his entire tail ripped off, and it was just an open wound where the base would have been. We didn’t expect him to live very long. But nearly a year later, he is still here and going strong. And he has partially regrown his tail. It’s about three inches long. I checked on some squirrel forums, and the prevailing “wisdom” is that no mammalian species can do such a thing – only certain lizards. Well, that’s not true. My little buddy Stump has proven them wrong. It’s probably a product of the fact that we feed them very well that he’s been able to survive so long, but regardless, they can and do regrow lost tails.

      1. That’s the great thing. As elsewhere in biology, we don’t even have to invent (and engineer) how to do it: examples we can copy already exist in nature, in creatures (tetrapods) not that dissimilar from ourselves.

  3. Squirrels will take up residence in your house, given half a chance, and make a real mess of it.

    Squirrels are especially a problem in that regard you have to be away from a house for an extended period of time, such as Rand prepping his house in Florida for sale.

    Squirrels are wild animals and not your friend. A person is taking a big risk getting scratched or bitten by one in feeding it, with the attendant need for rabies shots.

    Please don’t feed the squirrels.

    2. Squirrels are not considered a vector for rabies. Raccoons, on the other hand, are. I was deeply scratched by one, and in about a week developed flu-like symptoms. I finally went into the ER, and was immediately put on the rabies vaccine series, along with five injections of human rabies antibodies. The PA who gave me the initial shots said “If he had bitten you, you’d be dead by now.”

      Modern rabies shots are given in the shoulder, and are no more painful that a flu shot. They do, however, severely mess up your mind for months. Oh, and they’re expensive. The bill was $17,000.00 But at least I’m alive.

  4. One day last year, my father was grousing about the squirrels raiding his bird feeder. So, for Christmas, we bought him a squirrel-proof feeder. He wasn’t convinced it would work, but I assured him it would, as it was so ingenious.

    He sent me a picture the other day of a squirrel, straddling the mechanism just so, and scooping the seeds out by the fist full. Next one’s going to be rigged with C4.

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