A New Squirrel Family.

Gray Squirrel

To wrap up June, I thought I’d show some non-feathered youngsters that left their nest recently.

Most people are familiar with Eastern Gray Squirrels– they are rather tame when it comes to humans.  Which is a good thing, because they like to nest in and on buildings.

But instead of doing a species profile- I’ll do that another day- I thought I’d focus on a family that’s come to my notice this month.

Here’s an area of my apartment complex- note the boxes high up on the wall. More on this in a bit.

A squirrel lives in this area that I call Mom Squirrel.  She’s been around here at least a few years, and visits my place for peanuts.  Here she is coming out of the bushes.

She’s rather used to me, as you can tell.  Sure, I have a peanut in my pocket for you.

Now, to the reason I call her Mom Squirrel.  Up on the box on the wall, someone peered out timidly.

Eventually, the little one came out, but looked rather unsure of itself.  Having been born in a box, the great outdoors can be intimidating, I imagine.

Looking down and seeing Mom get a peanut.  Hmmm, looks a bit scary.

A 2nd young one decides to come out and see what the show is all about.

And after a bit, a 3rd shows up.  There’s safety in numbers!

This is Mom Squirrel’s 2nd year in a row that she’s used this box as a nest.  Keeping Gray Squirrels from getting inside buildings (where they can chew alarming things such as wires) is a constant battle for my apartment complex.

Some days later, I noticed a couple of skittish young squirrels moving around the area.  They are siblings that stuck together for a while.  These were probably 2 of the young squirrels from the nest box.  It’s time to go out and find where Mom finds all her food!

Here’s more little squirrel fun from this morning- these 2 really stick together,and bounce around…and a 3rd one is nearby.

Sure enough, new young squirrels have showed up at my place- here’s one I call White Foot (for obvious reasons).  I’m almost sure that they are Mom Squirrel’s kids that followed her to the Promised Land of Peanuts.  These new visitors are a bit nervous, but they’ll calm down over time as they settle into the routine of an adult squirrel living in suburbia.

It’s been quite a month for nature’s kids!