MY SQUIRREL, DAVE OR DORIS WHICHEVER?
MY SQUIRREL, DAVE OR DORIS WHICHEVER?
I wrote this story in March 1998, while living in McLean, VA. I like to refer to the time as “My previous life.” With the return of El Nino predicted (maybe) this year, I’ll check the squirrel nests out in the woods across the street to see if it’s true.
March 25, 1998
We have a squirrel I named Dave or Doris depending? Last September Dave decided to build a nest for the coming winter in the biggest of the wild cherry trees that line the backside neighbor’s fence. He (a generic “he” for those of you that would be offended by this old male writer who thinks he remembers a calmer world) spent an entire day building the nest. He picked a section where two limbs met the trunk on the northwest side of the tree not very high off the ground. I tried to tell him that his choice wasn’t the best location and that he should consider picking the southeast side to be sheltered by the cold northwest winds due during the cold months to come. How was I to know that El Nino would blow warm wind and very wet rain from the south and southeast all winter long? Dave must have known best after all. The early farmers forecasted weather use the wooly worm, time bears hibernate, time the first goose flies south and how high the squirrels built their nests off the ground.
Dave cut branches longer than his body with green leaves attached from the trees around his tree and scurried down that tree, across the top rail of the fence back to the cedar tree. Up the cedar with his branches and that was a struggle. Then he jumped from the top of the cedar into his tree with fewer branches than when he started up. He laced them together with teeth and front paws. He then took the easy way down his tree to the fence. Dave always kept the same scurried routine that seemed to me to require a lot of wasted energy. I should rename him Scurry. I tried to explain to Dave that it would be easier to climb up his big open tree with the branch than to try and get a branch up inside a cedar and jump across with a branch. Would he listen? No, he would not. He could have done the job in one-quarter time by cutting branches close to the nest out of his own tree. The other squirrels building nests in trees down the fence used Dave’s tree for their branches. Dumb squirrels.
Once Dave finished I went up to the back bedroom to check out his construction and found it lacking in depth, height, and volume. He had built a lousy nest and I could not give my approval. I thought he was a typical city dweller with a nest like that and he would have been in bad shape in the woods this winter. The ground never froze solid once that winter and we had a very mild season. Dave did fine with his prediction last September. How do squirrels do that?
I always put out the empty peanut butter jars to watch the squirrels trying to get the last out of the bottom of the jars. The first jar was a big plastic Skippy with a little peanut butter on the sides and bottom. It took no time at all for the first varmint to show and circle closer until he licked the end and clean out all he could before getting the nerve to dive into the jar. About that time along came three others and the fittest won the rest of the offering. It was really humorous when the winners made it to the bottom of the jar too see a squirrel stretched out full length into a jar licking the bottom. Most times there is a fight for supremacy or just for fun. Who knows what is going on in a rodents mind? Dave being smaller never wins. But don’t feel sorry for Dave; after all he is a varmint, a rodent and a kin to a rat.
One morning in March, I noticed Dave sunning himself on the fence sound asleep. This was the first day with a promise of 68 to 70 degrees in several weeks. It had been 28 degrees last night. He looked like he would make a good Squirrel pie too me. Then at noon, while I was making my peanut butter sandwich, I noticed a squirrel with a mouth full of brown wet leaves running along the fence. As soon as he got to the cedar tree, up he went and then I noticed that Dave’s nest was missing. Not a twig or leaf remained. Dave was relocating the nest from the Wild Cherry to the cedar and needed old wet leaves to finish the job. Dave is probably Doris and she needs a new nest for the expected youngins. Only a guess, you understand. This is the first time I have ever seen a squirrel build a nest in an evergreen and use the old nest material. It just isn’t a squirrel thing to do. I could not give advice this time due to the density of the cedar, but I am sure she will goof it again.
I wrote this story in March 1998, while living in McLean, VA. I like to refer to the time as “My previous life.” With the return of El Nino predicted (maybe) this year, I’ll check the squirrel nests out in the woods across the street to see if it’s true.
March 25, 1998
We have a squirrel I named Dave or Doris depending? Last September Dave decided to build a nest for the coming winter in the biggest of the wild cherry trees that line the backside neighbor’s fence. He (a generic “he” for those of you that would be offended by this old male writer who thinks he remembers a calmer world) spent an entire day building the nest. He picked a section where two limbs met the trunk on the northwest side of the tree not very high off the ground. I tried to tell him that his choice wasn’t the best location and that he should consider picking the southeast side to be sheltered by the cold northwest winds due during the cold months to come. How was I to know that El Nino would blow warm wind and very wet rain from the south and southeast all winter long? Dave must have known best after all. The early farmers forecasted weather use the wooly worm, time bears hibernate, time the first goose flies south and how high the squirrels built their nests off the ground.
Dave cut branches longer than his body with green leaves attached from the trees around his tree and scurried down that tree, across the top rail of the fence back to the cedar tree. Up the cedar with his branches and that was a struggle. Then he jumped from the top of the cedar into his tree with fewer branches than when he started up. He laced them together with teeth and front paws. He then took the easy way down his tree to the fence. Dave always kept the same scurried routine that seemed to me to require a lot of wasted energy. I should rename him Scurry. I tried to explain to Dave that it would be easier to climb up his big open tree with the branch than to try and get a branch up inside a cedar and jump across with a branch. Would he listen? No, he would not. He could have done the job in one-quarter time by cutting branches close to the nest out of his own tree. The other squirrels building nests in trees down the fence used Dave’s tree for their branches. Dumb squirrels.
Once Dave finished I went up to the back bedroom to check out his construction and found it lacking in depth, height, and volume. He had built a lousy nest and I could not give my approval. I thought he was a typical city dweller with a nest like that and he would have been in bad shape in the woods this winter. The ground never froze solid once that winter and we had a very mild season. Dave did fine with his prediction last September. How do squirrels do that?
I always put out the empty peanut butter jars to watch the squirrels trying to get the last out of the bottom of the jars. The first jar was a big plastic Skippy with a little peanut butter on the sides and bottom. It took no time at all for the first varmint to show and circle closer until he licked the end and clean out all he could before getting the nerve to dive into the jar. About that time along came three others and the fittest won the rest of the offering. It was really humorous when the winners made it to the bottom of the jar too see a squirrel stretched out full length into a jar licking the bottom. Most times there is a fight for supremacy or just for fun. Who knows what is going on in a rodents mind? Dave being smaller never wins. But don’t feel sorry for Dave; after all he is a varmint, a rodent and a kin to a rat.
One morning in March, I noticed Dave sunning himself on the fence sound asleep. This was the first day with a promise of 68 to 70 degrees in several weeks. It had been 28 degrees last night. He looked like he would make a good Squirrel pie too me. Then at noon, while I was making my peanut butter sandwich, I noticed a squirrel with a mouth full of brown wet leaves running along the fence. As soon as he got to the cedar tree, up he went and then I noticed that Dave’s nest was missing. Not a twig or leaf remained. Dave was relocating the nest from the Wild Cherry to the cedar and needed old wet leaves to finish the job. Dave is probably Doris and she needs a new nest for the expected youngins. Only a guess, you understand. This is the first time I have ever seen a squirrel build a nest in an evergreen and use the old nest material. It just isn’t a squirrel thing to do. I could not give advice this time due to the density of the cedar, but I am sure she will goof it again.
posted by JackSML | 2:10 PM
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