Critters
~Squirrels~

They're really quite funny!

We love to put snacks out for ours and watch them play.

Some people don't like them because they are so mischievous, but we think they're great!

We once were foster parents to a baby squirrel. We called him 'Little Bit' because he was so little he fit in our pockets for a long time. (The pocket was where he lived till he grew a little older and braver.) We let him go and he lives in our back yard now: he must have enjoyed our company!

Squirrels are fun, and adaptive as well; they can easily adjust to their surroundings. That's why it's often easy to make friends with them , but it takes a LOT of patience.

All squirrels are mammals, order Rodentia . They live in trees, on the ground, or in burrows, and usually have long bushy tails.

Squirrels habitually snatch up seeds and nuts and cache them in places most convenient for using the stash as resources or foodstuff when other food is unavailable, especially in Winter.

Sometimes, when we watch our squirrels bury seeds all over our yard, we wonder if they are always able to remember where they put them so that they can come back and eat them later.

When they do forget (and they DO, just like humans do) the seeds and nuts must germinate and grow, thereby continuing the natural ecological cycle.

The squirrel Family, Sciuridae, is divided into two subfamilies. The subfamily Sciurinae includes all of the terrestrial and arboreal species except for the flying squirrels.

Flying squirrels are great fun.

Our neighbor saved a baby flying squirrel after Hurricane Hugo struck and they had it for a pet for several years.

They called him Hugo, of course!

We don't have pictures of Hugo-the-Squirrel, but we've got lots of pictures of Little Bit! Can you imagine having a squirrel crawl all over your head and nibble at your fingers and ears? It's really funny.

If you find a hurt, sick, or orphaned squirrel you can take care of them, it isn't hard. If they are really tiny you should give them to an animal hospital though, but otherwise you can feed them animal milk (bought from the vet) from special tiny bottles, and when they get a little bigger they LOVE nuts, apples, raisins and things like that. Little Bit's very favorite foods are pecans and those little seeds that are inside of pine cones.