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(the "girls" at a traditional Canadian Thanksgiving walk in my hometown)Everyone seems to be writing all of these awe-inspiring posts about the changing seasons and the beauty of autumn that is slowly beginning to envelop us all. I for one adore fall, especially fall in my hometown in Ontario, Canada. Growing up in the forest city where the fall colors are right out of a rich painting has forever tainted my outlook on fall anywhere else in the world. While the grass is always greener for some, the leaves are always more colourful where I grew up. So as I am enjoying the
cooler weather and the brown leaves beneath my feet – gotta love that crunch and crinkling sound – I do miss the true beauty of the season that the heat and dryness has somewhat thwarted this year.
I do have to admit to having a certain fondness for the squirrels. I’m not an animal lover, and besides last winter when Wolter had me and the kids feeding the squirrels peanuts from our fingers, I’ve never really “cared” for the critter, but they are sort of the official autumn mascot. Seeing these little guys scurrying around, munching and storing nuts, staring us down with keen observance and then daring us in a game of chase, I don ‘t know... there’s something awfully cute about them (though I hear a bite from one is not quite so cute). As fall has approached this year and these furry little brown guys have seemed to suddenly come out of hiding and multiplied feverishly, I’ve started to wonder something: where is all the squirrel poop? Having grown up with Canadian geese, you KNOW there are geese when you see ALL that horrid poop everywhere. Stepping in and around it is an absolute nightmare… but fall doesn’t seem to bring with it the stench of poop from it’s mascot. Here’s some of what I’ve found in my very rigorous and obviously prestigious research on the internet:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=squirrel+poop
http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Squirrel
However, it was a clip from the very educated "YouTube" that clarified my question and confirmed my hypothesis.
So next time you go for a walk in the woods, think about that crunchy “leaf” sound beneath your feet. Is it just leaves? Are all those round things acorns? Just a thought. Enjoy the season.
2 comments:
So, I want to see the YouTube clip!!!! I've never ever thought about this subject but now I'm dying to know more!
I fostered a squirrel that has seizures and cannot be released. So I can give you the poop on their poop. It's tiny - like mice poop or smaller and dry. We barely notice it. She lives loose on our converted screen porch which has a concrete floor and we simply brush it off the counters and sweep it up. They are (usually) vegetarian and produce as clean a poop as I've ever seen.
What you really want to know about, since you have that handsome new mouther, is the pee. When baby Huey starts shoving leaves in his mouth, don't assume those wet spots are dew. Squirrels mark their territory, which means they don't have one tidy corner like cats and bunnies have. Piddling a bit on this leaf and a bit on that, and some on your head as you stroll under their tree is par for their course.
Since they are vegetarians this too is relatively unoffensive. The nutshells on the floor under our bare feet are worse. We put a rubber sheet over the backs of the chairs she loves to mark and let her mark to her heart's content. If it is hot out and it's been a while since we cleaned up it smells a little like toast or baby's hair- really not a urine or gamey smell.
I have also heard squirrel bites can be severe, so be careful with that hand feeding, and you might not want to encourage Junior, because they could probably take a baby's finger off. They are not rabies vectors though. Our squirrel loves us and doesn't bite.
Having this creature has made me study them. They are not the pests the construction trade and bird seed companies have convinced the public they are. They only get in attics when their own territory is depleted by man. They are very important to forests. Next time you see an oak tree check out the acorns. The squirrels may appear to waste, but it isn't waste. They eat the top 1/3 of the acorn. All it needs is the bottom to germinate,and they help it do that by removing the cap and eating from the basal end. They will rotate an acorn around in their hands to open only from that end.
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