I don't remember if I ever shared the experience of the first rise of the squirrels but here's the second encounter. I was laying in bed looking out of my window to a beautifully sunlit sky. I saw what I thought was a rainbow but was just a pretty pink cloud probably from a passing plane. I was dozing off when I heard movement in the barren tree in the backyard. I peeked out and saw about 15 baby squirrels chasing each other, jumping from branch to branch just having a grand ole time. This sight brought back the memory of the first time I witnessed this act of nature which scared me because back then the tree was full of leaves. There was no wind that day and to see the leaves moving in such a frenzy was scarry. I always wondered if I would ever witness such a sight again. Well that got me up for the day .
That's a lot of baby squirrels!!! Since I moved to my rural acreage, I've seen a ton of rabbits but very few squirrels. They (the squirrels) stay in the trees surrounding my open fields but don't venture into the open very often (I also have a healthy hawk population.) It does make it nice to set up bird feeders in the lone tree by my house and not have them raided. It's funny that the rabbits aren't as wary as the squirrels. They hang out in the open without a care...dumb bunnies.
I had four baby squirrels that would eat acorns under my oak tree. I so enjoyed watching them. I haven't seen them lately. I hope the hawks or other predators didn't get them.
Yup. And it ain't "that" hawk, it's ALL the hawks. I hear them all over my property this time of year. I think it's mating season. And then there are the foxes (not the ones chasing Bruce Andrew, but the 4 legged ones.)
At the last place I lived, a female squirrel spent the winter in the unused chimney over the kitchen. In the spring we had 3 little squirrels running around on the roof and climbing up and down a different chimney to get to the ground. My neighbor saw them first and told me. I trapped them and sent them on their way.
I can think of two main things you don't want in your house, especially the attic - bats and squirrels. One can infest your attic and the other tear it to shreds. by chewing through electrical wires and cables, PVC pipes, attic furnace connections, etc. Fortunately, we have eagles and coopers hawks to help keep the squirrels in check. I've noticed this winter that squirrels have managed to get into some neighbors abode, as there is a big nest next door made out of bits of fabric and clothing.. I am guessing they've a winter and summer home, one in an attic and another in the trees.
I grew up in a house that was built in the 1800s, and we had both. You could stand outside at dusk and watch the bats come out of the house ala Bracken Cave (well, not quite, but you get the idea.) When you went to bed at night, you fell asleep to the sound of the squirrels running back & forth. The attic was not a place to which you wanted to venture.