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Squirrels are really interesting critters. I have a funny memory of my then-girlfriend's brother and his wife showing us home video of their trip to America an

Squirrels are really interesting critters. I have a funny memory of my then-girlfriend's brother and his wife showing us home video of their trip to America and her family was totally fascinated with the 20 minutes of squirrel footage. At first I didn't understand why anyone, even those in New Zealand (where there are no squirrels), would see squirrels with the same awe one would show on a trip to a zoo, but I thought about it more and realized how weird they are. For one, they seem to love roughhousing. Everyone has seen videos of squirrels being flung off of bird feeders by anti-squirrel devices, yet they love to come back for more. They'll go through great lengths just to get a single peanut, they're really daring too, but they're not stupid. My parents for a while constructed a squirrel obstacle course in their backyard and at first the squirrels are skeptical; they'll investigate, back off, come back and get a little closer, back off again until they get comfortable and then they figure it out. There's an unused dog-door at my parents' house and I suggested they extend part of their squirrel maze into their house through it. It was such a good idea they actually did it, and the squirrels did indeed come all the way into the house! They must have reasoned at some level that because those maze structures led to peanuts in the past that there could be a peanut inside the house where the maze lead. Of course this also lead birds like scrub jays observing the squirrels and entering the house as well! For creatures that are relatively vulnerable to predators, they will relax out in the open in really cartoonish ways. It's humorous when they lie on the edge of a fence with their limbs dangling over both sides. Periodically, my parents have to trim the pods off their palm trees which are quite tall now. Many of those peanuts the squirrels won from the obstacle course ended up at the top of those palms. It almost seems excessive given the amount of energy they seem to expend getting that food.

whimsicalism 5y ago
Wait is this also true of China? It would explain why I've seen so many chinese tourists filming squirrels all the time. I've always been a bit baffled.
- Spooky23 5y ago
  I had a group of Chinese grad students studying my black walnut trees, which was interesting in itself. They literally spent about two hours watching the squirrels go about their business.
- tzs 5y ago
  I believe that squirrels are much more common in US (and Canadian?) cities than they are in the parks of the big cities of most other countries, which is why they can be so interesting to tourists. Up until around mid-19th century or so, they were rare in US cities too. If you saw a squirrel in the city it was probably someone's pet. According to a newspaper account from 1856 New York, hundreds of people gathered around a tree that an escaped pet squirrel was spotted in to watch it. In the later half of the 19th century, there was a popular movement in park design and management in the US that said that making city parks more natural was essential to the health and wellbeing of city dwellers who did not have time to get out of the city. As part of that many cities purposefully released squirrels into their parks. This is also why you find Eastern gray squirrels in many cities far outside the Eastern gray's native range (which is as you can guess from the name the eastern US). When people wanted to introduce squirrels into, say, Seattle parks they didn't do what you might expect and send someone out to the nearest forest to rustle up some Western gray squirrels to move to the city. No, they had Eastern grays shipped across country and released those in Seattle parks. The reason for this is that in many areas the native trees are not the kind of trees people like in their parks and so city parks often were largely populated by imported trees from the eastern US. If those imported trees did not produce the kinds of nuts and seeds that the native squirrels like, then native squirrels weren't going to work out in the parks so they brought in squirrels from where the trees came from. Unfortunately, Eastern grays aren't very picky eaters. They are quite happy eating the nuts and seeds from the native trees and so quickly spread from the parks to the wild and have largely replaced the native Western gray squirrels in Washington. I think the Western grays here are down to just one population. (The other native squirrels here, Douglas, Red, and Northern flying) weren't affected much by the spread of Eastern grays because they fill sufficiently difference niches in the ecosystem. With Western grays on the other hand Eastern grays are essentially slightly smaller versions of them that like a much bigger variety of nuts and seeds).
  - laurentlbm 5y ago
    > I believe that squirrels are much more common in US (and Canadian?) cities [...] Yes, very common in Canada. I live in Montreal and frequently have as many as four just hanging out in my backyard. Funnily enough, gray squirrels were also introduced in London parks in the 19th century and have completely taken over the city, much like here in North America.
chmod775 5y ago
> and her family was totally fascinated with the 20 minutes of squirrel footage What place did they come from that didn't have squirrels? I thought they're native to pretty much any place that isn't Australia or the poles.
- ravenstine 5y ago
  New Zealand.
  - bentpins 5y ago
    Can confirm. Went on a trip NZ->UK and was fascinated. They're so twitchy, fast and inquisitive, and so furry. They are legitimately as interesting to watch to me as almost any zoo animal.
    - CodeGlitch 5y ago
      UK here. I do love squirrels, but trying to feed birds without the squirrels stealing all the nuts and seeds is next to impossible. Anyone have any suggestions?
- mportela 5y ago
  I've never seen a squirrel in Brazil
  - jbotz 5y ago
    There are squirrels in Brazil. They aren't as common as the (about equally sized) marmosets, but they are not all that rare. They are called "caxinguelê" or "serelepe".
- chanux 5y ago
  I worked with two guys who ran Sheep farms in Australia. Once at the lunch time they saw a couple squirrels (this was in Sri Lanka) and they were really fascinated by them. They said they don't have squirrels in Australia and I was fascinated by that. A quick Google kind of says there are at least a few still left[1] in Australia. [1] https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/a117ced5-9a94-4586-afdb-1f333618e1e3/files/46-ind.pdf https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/a117ced5-9...
jdpedrie 5y ago
Related video: https://youtu.be/hFZFjoX2cGg https://youtu.be/hFZFjoX2cGg
munificent 5y ago
Squirrels are really cool. They are human-like in that they have a level of curiosity and derring-do that seems, uh, greater than what you'd imagine evolution would select for. We have a squirrel in our neighborhood that my wife and kids started leaving nuts out for. Within a few weeks, she would show up at the back door to wait for a handout. Now she has basically no fear of us. She'll take nuts from the kids' hands. She'll come right up to you, which is alarming if you're just trying to leave the house and don't actually have food on you. We have a Dutch door which we tend to leave open, and she's jumped onto the ledge before. It's probably only a matter of time before she comes all the way in the house, the cats notice, and all hell breaks loose.
- tzs 5y ago
  A squirrel trying to balance caution vs free food can be hilarious. This short video, which should be watched with the sound turned up, is awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ1ZYGHmtN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ1ZYGHmtN8
  - scrollaway 5y ago
    That was perfect :)
- dzink 5y ago
  Be careful, as Squirrels often carry hunta virus and plague.
  - jansanchez 5y ago
    Did you mean hantavirus? According to the CDC [0] squirrels do not carry that virus. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html
    - goldenkey 5y ago
      https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/woman-says-squirrels-source-of-hantavirus/article_83e0ee6b-d251-5e34-a124-2b29679c6e57.html https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/woman-says... A Canadian public-health Web site says although deer mice are the primary carrier of hantavirus, "all rodents including squirrels, rats, chipmunks and other kinds of mice should be treated as if they might carry the virus."
dzink 5y ago
There are almost no stray dogs and cats in the US to catch the squirrels. In Bulgaria, there strays are common, squirrels are almost out. As a result, family in Bulgaria can grow tomatoes, strawberries and fruit trees in their yard and eat the fruit. In the East Bay Area, anything not fenced in gets eaten by squirrels. They would pick your fruit, eat one bite and drop it on top of your fence. If you have a fruit tree, you’ll see a line of one-bite fruit along the length of the fence neighbouring it.
- BikiniPrince 5y ago
  They ate all of my cherries this year. Last year I had a good collection, but they seem to have multiplied.
  - petre 5y ago
    Thanks in part to your cherry tree.
    - sonofhans 5y ago
      That's just rubbing salt in the wound :D
- egeozcan 5y ago
  I guess then İstanbul, the city of cats, could have been a great place to farm if there have been any free patches of land left. By the way, the squirrels eating just one bite is annoying for you but perhaps better for the sustainability of the tree? (just thinking loud)
  - Talanes 5y ago
    >By the way, the squirrels eating just one bite is annoying for you but perhaps better for the sustainability of the tree? Probably no difference for the individual tree, but I can imagine that partly eaten fruit being knocked to the ground is part of the seed-dispersal system.
- 5y ago
Koshkin 5y ago
They are really smart. I once tried to chase one away from a tree using a fishing rod, but it just moved to a distance an inch longer than where the rod could reach and stayed put, just keeping an eye on me while I was there.
- nemo44x 5y ago
  They’re not only smart but also extremely persistent. Good qualities in any human.
- elliekelly 5y ago
  There’s a squirrel in my neighborhood who I swear knows the exact length of my dog’s leash and uses the information for some sort of twisted entertainment. Every time we walk out the front door this squirrel dashes across our path juuust out of my dog’s reach. My dog goes nuts thinking that maybe this time he’ll catch that darn squirrel but of course the squirrel and I both know differently. I really think the squirrel gets a kick out of the whole ordeal.
prawn 5y ago
I'm from Australia and love watching squirrels when abroad. Our closest equivalents might be rats and possums which are mostly hidden away until night and are nowhere near as entertaining. Meanwhile, squirrels muck around constantly in broad daylight where anyone can spectate - they're always up to something.
- agumonkey 5y ago
  people like spider-man movies but just go out and watch squirrels.. it's real life super heroes that fit in your hands. these go so fast, fly left and right you barely see them, quite amazing
peterburkimsher 5y ago
You're right, there's no squirrels in New Zealand! Must be because only birds could fly here, it's too isolated. This also means that birds are responsible for more incidents here on the cybersecurity parody site CyberSquirrel, which tracks when wildlife brings down computer systems. https://cybersquirrel1.com/ https://cybersquirrel1.com/

whimsicalism 5y ago

Wait is this also true of China? It would explain why I've seen so many chinese tourists filming squirrels all the time. I've always been a bit baffled.

Spooky23 5y ago
I had a group of Chinese grad students studying my black walnut trees, which was interesting in itself. They literally spent about two hours watching the squirrels go about their business.
tzs 5y ago
I believe that squirrels are much more common in US (and Canadian?) cities than they are in the parks of the big cities of most other countries, which is why they can be so interesting to tourists. Up until around mid-19th century or so, they were rare in US cities too. If you saw a squirrel in the city it was probably someone's pet. According to a newspaper account from 1856 New York, hundreds of people gathered around a tree that an escaped pet squirrel was spotted in to watch it. In the later half of the 19th century, there was a popular movement in park design and management in the US that said that making city parks more natural was essential to the health and wellbeing of city dwellers who did not have time to get out of the city. As part of that many cities purposefully released squirrels into their parks. This is also why you find Eastern gray squirrels in many cities far outside the Eastern gray's native range (which is as you can guess from the name the eastern US). When people wanted to introduce squirrels into, say, Seattle parks they didn't do what you might expect and send someone out to the nearest forest to rustle up some Western gray squirrels to move to the city. No, they had Eastern grays shipped across country and released those in Seattle parks. The reason for this is that in many areas the native trees are not the kind of trees people like in their parks and so city parks often were largely populated by imported trees from the eastern US. If those imported trees did not produce the kinds of nuts and seeds that the native squirrels like, then native squirrels weren't going to work out in the parks so they brought in squirrels from where the trees came from. Unfortunately, Eastern grays aren't very picky eaters. They are quite happy eating the nuts and seeds from the native trees and so quickly spread from the parks to the wild and have largely replaced the native Western gray squirrels in Washington. I think the Western grays here are down to just one population. (The other native squirrels here, Douglas, Red, and Northern flying) weren't affected much by the spread of Eastern grays because they fill sufficiently difference niches in the ecosystem. With Western grays on the other hand Eastern grays are essentially slightly smaller versions of them that like a much bigger variety of nuts and seeds).
- laurentlbm 5y ago
  > I believe that squirrels are much more common in US (and Canadian?) cities [...] Yes, very common in Canada. I live in Montreal and frequently have as many as four just hanging out in my backyard. Funnily enough, gray squirrels were also introduced in London parks in the 19th century and have completely taken over the city, much like here in North America.

chmod775 5y ago

> and her family was totally fascinated with the 20 minutes of squirrel footage What place did they come from that didn't have squirrels? I thought they're native to pretty much any place that isn't Australia or the poles.

ravenstine 5y ago
New Zealand.
- bentpins 5y ago
  Can confirm. Went on a trip NZ->UK and was fascinated. They're so twitchy, fast and inquisitive, and so furry. They are legitimately as interesting to watch to me as almost any zoo animal.
  - CodeGlitch 5y ago
    UK here. I do love squirrels, but trying to feed birds without the squirrels stealing all the nuts and seeds is next to impossible. Anyone have any suggestions?
mportela 5y ago
I've never seen a squirrel in Brazil
- jbotz 5y ago
  There are squirrels in Brazil. They aren't as common as the (about equally sized) marmosets, but they are not all that rare. They are called "caxinguelê" or "serelepe".
chanux 5y ago
I worked with two guys who ran Sheep farms in Australia. Once at the lunch time they saw a couple squirrels (this was in Sri Lanka) and they were really fascinated by them. They said they don't have squirrels in Australia and I was fascinated by that. A quick Google kind of says there are at least a few still left[1] in Australia. [1] https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/a117ced5-9a94-4586-afdb-1f333618e1e3/files/46-ind.pdf https://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/pages/a117ced5-9...

jdpedrie 5y ago

Related video: https://youtu.be/hFZFjoX2cGg https://youtu.be/hFZFjoX2cGg

munificent 5y ago

Squirrels are really cool. They are human-like in that they have a level of curiosity and derring-do that seems, uh, greater than what you'd imagine evolution would select for. We have a squirrel in our neighborhood that my wife and kids started leaving nuts out for. Within a few weeks, she would show up at the back door to wait for a handout. Now she has basically no fear of us. She'll take nuts from the kids' hands. She'll come right up to you, which is alarming if you're just trying to leave the house and don't actually have food on you. We have a Dutch door which we tend to leave open, and she's jumped onto the ledge before. It's probably only a matter of time before she comes all the way in the house, the cats notice, and all hell breaks loose.

tzs 5y ago
A squirrel trying to balance caution vs free food can be hilarious. This short video, which should be watched with the sound turned up, is awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ1ZYGHmtN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQ1ZYGHmtN8
- scrollaway 5y ago
  That was perfect :)
dzink 5y ago
Be careful, as Squirrels often carry hunta virus and plague.
- jansanchez 5y ago
  Did you mean hantavirus? According to the CDC [0] squirrels do not carry that virus. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html https://www.cdc.gov/rodents/diseases/direct.html
  - goldenkey 5y ago
    https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/woman-says-squirrels-source-of-hantavirus/article_83e0ee6b-d251-5e34-a124-2b29679c6e57.html https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/woman-says... A Canadian public-health Web site says although deer mice are the primary carrier of hantavirus, "all rodents including squirrels, rats, chipmunks and other kinds of mice should be treated as if they might carry the virus."

dzink 5y ago

There are almost no stray dogs and cats in the US to catch the squirrels. In Bulgaria, there strays are common, squirrels are almost out. As a result, family in Bulgaria can grow tomatoes, strawberries and fruit trees in their yard and eat the fruit. In the East Bay Area, anything not fenced in gets eaten by squirrels. They would pick your fruit, eat one bite and drop it on top of your fence. If you have a fruit tree, you’ll see a line of one-bite fruit along the length of the fence neighbouring it.

BikiniPrince 5y ago
They ate all of my cherries this year. Last year I had a good collection, but they seem to have multiplied.
- petre 5y ago
  Thanks in part to your cherry tree.
  - sonofhans 5y ago
    That's just rubbing salt in the wound :D
egeozcan 5y ago
I guess then İstanbul, the city of cats, could have been a great place to farm if there have been any free patches of land left. By the way, the squirrels eating just one bite is annoying for you but perhaps better for the sustainability of the tree? (just thinking loud)
- Talanes 5y ago
  >By the way, the squirrels eating just one bite is annoying for you but perhaps better for the sustainability of the tree? Probably no difference for the individual tree, but I can imagine that partly eaten fruit being knocked to the ground is part of the seed-dispersal system.
5y ago

Koshkin 5y ago

They are really smart. I once tried to chase one away from a tree using a fishing rod, but it just moved to a distance an inch longer than where the rod could reach and stayed put, just keeping an eye on me while I was there.

nemo44x 5y ago
They’re not only smart but also extremely persistent. Good qualities in any human.
elliekelly 5y ago
There’s a squirrel in my neighborhood who I swear knows the exact length of my dog’s leash and uses the information for some sort of twisted entertainment. Every time we walk out the front door this squirrel dashes across our path juuust out of my dog’s reach. My dog goes nuts thinking that maybe this time he’ll catch that darn squirrel but of course the squirrel and I both know differently. I really think the squirrel gets a kick out of the whole ordeal.

prawn 5y ago

I'm from Australia and love watching squirrels when abroad. Our closest equivalents might be rats and possums which are mostly hidden away until night and are nowhere near as entertaining. Meanwhile, squirrels muck around constantly in broad daylight where anyone can spectate - they're always up to something.

agumonkey 5y ago
people like spider-man movies but just go out and watch squirrels.. it's real life super heroes that fit in your hands. these go so fast, fly left and right you barely see them, quite amazing

peterburkimsher 5y ago

You're right, there's no squirrels in New Zealand! Must be because only birds could fly here, it's too isolated. This also means that birds are responsible for more incidents here on the cybersecurity parody site CyberSquirrel, which tracks when wildlife brings down computer systems. https://cybersquirrel1.com/ https://cybersquirrel1.com/