Our Squirrels...aka as the Jonas Brothers!

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Sorry, awhile back I mentioned that I would wrote about our squirrels…so here goes:

We moved into our house in December of 2007 it was between two Nor’easters that both dropped 2.5-3 feet. The one day in between we came a runnin’ to the new home. It is a nice house located in the same neighborhood I grew up in. The back yard abuts the local public school yard and play ground. On the property line to our left is a beautiful maple tree about 53 years old. The folks next door moved in after he returned from WWII and planted this tree.

Right away we notice a family of squirrels. On the tree itself our new neighbor had created two picnic tables that are attached to the tree. Each has a screw poking up for …squirrel feed to be placed (dried corn on the cob, available at all Walmarts stores). In the school yard are many many trees with thousands of squirrels running through them. This was our neighbors way of keeping them at bay and it has been successful for decades!

So, every morning around 6.00 our neighbor goes out and places two large cobs on the screws of the mini picnic tables. The kids watch from the table, as the family of five living in that tree, come out around 7.15 or so. One goes to the ground for the scraps, one goes to each table and two stay above watching. They rotate every few minutes until the corn is gone and each is fed… an amazing process.

There happens to be five and my daughter (Erica) decided that two must be parents and three are children so she named them the Jonas brothers! They run across the roof but never come in, they run along the fence all day and they keep the grounds clean. They are amazing to watch when you are home with nothing to do. Jumping from house to tree and vis-a -vis.

When we pull into the driveway they look at us and we stay in the car, a few minutes, until their task is complete. Usually involves eating! The Jobros do eat a lot of stuff and one of their primary burial places is our front garden. No damage but sometimes I get fed up with all the little digging spots. However, we realize that this was their home long before ours.
We make sure they have enough food because recently the Coyotes have been making public appearances at night. We do not want them looking for our lil friends for lunch, dinner or breakfast!

Funny, we live in suburbia. 12 miles N of Boston in a good size small city and my recent concerns are squirrels and coyotes! Over development for sure!

So, there it is. We have come to be very neighborly with the squirrles in our yard and they with us. I know there are many of you out there thinking… “…suburban rats…” but we really can’t screw up the natural balance of land, people and animal or else you start having coyotes tipping your trash barrels, right? I remember as a kid we had dogs tipping the trash but not my barrels. When they go over it is due to an eager builder and the city needing a new golf course.
Easty science projects for KNox and Erica (in the future).

Well, that’s it…the squirrel story. Not much just a little story about our backyard friends…
be well all…

Knox’s dad
(Erica’s also)

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I’m glad you are concerned about your little furry friends. When my mother was still alive we had a 4x8 window in the kitchen and 2 suirrels that took the super highway (cable lines) going back and forth the park. We had a open field behind our house and I could see one of them coming down the lines from the top of the hill, so my mom would get ready to watch. I also made a bird feeder for the 60+ sparrows. This is one thing she really enjoyed while taking care of her diabetis.

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a few years ago, in the middle of the night, I woke up and told my husband Ed I thought something had just ran down my arm. He told me I was dreaming, and to go back to sleep. He got up to use the bathroom, and shut the door immediately, and asked for his large fishing net. We had a flying squirrel in the bathroom! I could hear Ed whapping about, and he finally got him in the net. He was very cute, with large dark eyes. Ed took him in his car down the street, and let him go. We called him “scooter”.

a few days later, we came back from dinner, to find him sitting on top of the refrigerator, with a “deer in the headlights” look. again with the net, but this time he lept off the top stair to the basement, opened his “cape” between his arms and body, and sailed right down the flight of stairs. Eventually, Ed got him, and took him even further to let him go. We did some research, and discovered they are territorial, and can return “home” if displaced by as much as a mile!

We have since done some sealing of the our house on the lake, and have not seen Scooter again.

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Marie -

I hear you! Trust me there is no way for these lil dudes to get in my domain! Once they were so obvious we did a total review and blocking off of any access into my world. They have theirs and we have ours. Nature and civilization.
Funny story though!LOL! They are so skilled at the basic animal tasks. And these guys have built a great tree nest. I know they burrell inside for winter but the tree remains solid.

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Gus -

Thanks for the kind words! So many people see nature as invading suburbia. I see civilization as invading nature! My children are small and I wish for them to have more than game boy, cable TV, videos and Wii! Nothing is better than watching small critters tend to their daily tasks outside your windows. It is what God created , right?
The overdevelopment in our small city is just destroying the natural habitat of so many creatures. A shame really.
Thank you for your story , I am glad to see someone else with a kinship to watching the backyard squirrel!
It is amazing how they can scurry up the cable and electrical lines isn’t it? We recently went to the Topsfield Fair where for 40+ years I have been completely taken by the honey bee exhibit! We are considering joining the association (very small fee, 15.00) and learning what we can about pollination etc… A good chance for the kids to see nature in action!
Perhaps down the line… we will have us a colony, who knows?