Backyard Critters and Projects
The red headed woodpecker is one of my absolute favorite birds. I think I like them so much because they are the perfect combination of stunning beauty with a bad attitude that guys find irresistible.
Red headed woodpeckers are interesting in that they always attract tremendous attention from bird watchers but not much is actually known about them. I did a little research and came up with some interesting facts and observations about these beautiful birds.
My wife and I recently took a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate a friend’s 50th birthday. Vegas was a hoot but we also took some time to skip out of town and do a little hiking in some nearby state parks. My wife had a great time hiking the trails…I had a great time looking for squirrels!
Have you ever heard of a squirrel in your yard? You might have. Squirrels are not exactly the most covert of creatures. They are deft, yes, but they are not quiet. In fact, squirrels possess quite the vocal range that helps them communicate. Besides the auditory communication, squirrels also make use of visual signs and signals.
Let’s take a look at the sounds and noises made by squirrels and what they mean:
I spend a LOT of time watching the squirrels in my backyard and it seems like I always end up with a question or two about the creatures. For example, if the squirrel living in my tree didn’t have to worry about being chased by my dogs or eaten by a hawk, had plenty of food and shelter…how long would it live? Then, if you flip that around, what about squirrels that aren’t living in a lush urban environment? How do they fare in the wild? The basic question I was tossing around was, “How long do squirrels live?”
I decided to do some research on the average lifespan of a squirrel, and while there’s a significant amount of variation in the answers, squirrels can live longer than most other rodents if everything works out well for them. Here is what I found out.
Ever since we started our Squirrel Feeder Empire over at The Squirrel Shop I have been a bit obsessed with what squirrels eat. It might be hard to imagine but those cute squirrels in your backyard like to eat more than just the sunflower seeds in your bird feeders!
A squirrel loves a good peanut and of course they go after all of the pine cone seeds and acorns that they can lay their little paws on. But what else? Do squirrels eat anything more exotic or do they just stick with nuts and seeds? I was curious to learn if squirrels eat meat or are they vegetarians. Here is what I found (and some of it is freaky)!
My yard is full of Eastern grey squirrels, so when I heard movement in the attic late one night, my first thought was – could it be a squirrel? I mean as interesting as I find them, I don’t want these guys living in my house! So anyway, long story short, it wasn’t a squirrel that I heard. It was rats. That really sucked but is another story.
That whole adventure got me wondering about what squirrels do in the evening. Are squirrels nocturnal? Where do squirrels go at night? I did a little research and this is what I learned.
Jumping and climbing are the two most commonly associated behaviors with a squirrel. They are quick creatures that will scurry away as soon as you try to approach them. I once saw a squirrel jump at least 4 feet from the ground. Since I’m not exactly the most athletic person around, the effortless acrobatics from that squirrel definitely left quite an impression on me. I decided to find out a little more about a squirrel’s jumping ability and here’s what I found:
The Eastern grey squirrel, the most common squirrel in the United States, can jump four feet in the vertical direction. That’s basically the height of an average 7-year-old child. When jumping horizontally, squirrels can cover a distance of 9 feet. The incredible jumping ability of a squirrel is enabled by over sized back legs, double jointed ankles and sharp claws.
Whether you think of squirrels as cute furballs that chase each other across treetops or pests that occasionally invade your attic and chew their way through everything, squirrels are very interesting creatures. My personal fascination with squirrels is old news of course. So when I was reading about how animals see differently from humans, the first question that popped into my head was whether squirrels have good eyesight? Here’s what I found:
Yes, squirrels have good daylight eyesight. In fact, compared to other rodents, they fare extremely well in the vision department. Squirrels have great focal eyesight and their peripheral vision is equally sharp. This means that squirrels can see what is next to them or above them without having to move their heads. This helps a squirrel stay alert to changes in its environment, making it easier to detect predators. Squirrels have a hard time seeing in dark, night time conditions.
When we moved into our house in Baton Rouge about eight years ago the property did not have a fence in either the front or the back yard. At the time we had two of the sweetest female Golden Retrievers in the world, Pip and Cindy, and we had to decide how to keep them contained when they were outside.
We looked at a couple of different options and went with the Wireless Invisible Fence from Petsafe. There are some drawbacks to the wireless invisible fence but overall I liked the benefits so much that I bought a second one. After a few years though, we turned the units off and put up a traditional metal fence.
Keep reading and I will share everything that I loved about the wireless fence and why we eventually turned it off.
Figuring out why squirrels act like they do can be a fun challenge. Sometimes they act loving and playful with each other but other times they are aggressive and chase other squirrels away. So what gives with these critters? Are squirrels territorial or do they just like some squirrels more than others? I did a little research and was surprised by all of the information that I found. Here is what I learned:
The common tree squirrels (Grey and Fox) are not territorial. The American Red and California Ground squirrels are extremely territorial. Flying squirrels will exhibit territorial behavior if there is pressure for nesting locations. The degree of territorial defense also varies based upon the sex of the squirrel and the presence of babies.
If we look at the territorial behavior for some of these guys in detail then how they act starts making sense.
