Puppy Dog Tales - June 2017

I, Squirrel 

Robbie MacDougal, Shetland Sheepdog and canine journalist - and longtime watcher of squirrels - takes a closer look at these frolicsome creatures, including Pete, President Truman's White House squirrel. 

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Sometimes you write about something that keeps popping up before you. Squirrels did that this month.

I was watching the squirrels chase around the backyard, something we dogs and cats can do for hours. In my world squirrels are ultimate yard performance artists. I bet you never thought of them in that way.

A few days later, an item in the AARP newsletter appeared that applauded Joey the squirrel for foiling a burglar. The burglar got away with a few things but he was apprehended with scratches on his arm and complaints about the “durn” squirrel that had attacked him. In this interview, Joey the Squirrel’s owner gives his hero Joey all the credit. 

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Next I read a tiny item that squirrels were once one of America’s favorite pets. One in particular, Pete the Squirrel, belonged to President Harry S. Truman.

When I researched squirrels as pets I found an article at atlasobscura.com that confirmed that squirrels indeed were popular pets. Mungo, for example, was a very special squirrel who belonged to Benjamin Franklin. When Mungo was killed by a dog, Franklin wrote, “Few squirrels were better accomplished, for he had a good education, had traveled far, and seen much of the world.”

Katherine Grier’s book Pets in America noted that while colonial Americans kept many types of wild animals as pets, squirrels were the most popular. By the 1700s squirrels were the rage — they were kept in fine homes, clothed, fed well, and often even appeared in the ubiquitous family portraits. Eventually the fad of ownership lessened.

​They were, after all, wild animals, and behaved as such. Many states in the U.S. now have laws on the books prohibiting keeping squirrels at home. 
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Squirrels still have a big place in our hearts, so there is National Squirrel Appreciation Day on January 21. 

To help you better appreciate these backyard critters, here are a few facts and thoughts on squirrels:

Recognize these two fellas? They are the infamous Disney characters Chip and Dale.

To help you better appreciate these backyard critters, here are a few facts and thoughts on squirrels:

Recognize these two fellas? They are the infamous Disney characters Chip and Dale.

Did you know that chipmunks are rodents and members of the family Sciuridae, just like grey squirrels? 

There are around 280 different species of squirrels, including gray squirrels, red squirrels, chipmunks, fox squirrels, marmots, and groundhogs. Betcha didn’t know there were so many.
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There are a lot of famous squirrel characters. See if you remember these characters compiled by ranker.com. 

To test your knowledge of squirrel trivia, check your answers to these questions at the National Wildlife Federation blog:

1. A squirrel can find food buried how deep in leaves or snow?
2. How long do squirrels’ teeth grow?
3. When squirrels bury food, how much gets stolen by other critters?
4. What is deceptive caching?
5. How big is a newborn squirrel?
6. How did our parks get to be populated by so many squirrels?
7. What does a squirrel do to prepare for cold weather?

If you have children in your household, one of the best ways for them to learn about squirrel and other backyard habitats is using resources from the National Wildlife Federation. Ranger Rick is one of the best. 

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I want to be fair to my gentle readers who do not see squirrels and their relatives as benign, fun, lovely additions to the backyard environment. One of my neighbors sees them as enemies to be thwarted, and pesky rodents who steal birdseed from feeders. The World Wildlife Fund has some tricks for slowing down squirrels like weight-activated feeders, a feeding station just for the squirrels, and various baffles.

Keep in mind that squirrels are very resourceful, and that young squirrels learn from their mothers and grandmothers in attacking your feeder. 

Whatever you feel about squirrels, my advice is to get a good comfy chair and position it by the best window in the house and watch them perform.

Love, Robbie