I moved to the house by the U late in the Fall of 201x, and within a few weeks, it would be cold. It was my habit to I sit in the backyard and read after work. I usually ate snacks out there while I read. My snacks were almonds and dates.
The Professor was one next door neighbor as I already mentioned, and Mrs. Crabtree was my other next door neighbor. She was retired and had been widowed several years earlier. She liked to see what her neighbors were doing.
One day soon after establishing my habit of reading in the backyard, I noticed a squirrel watching me from the top of a tree in Mrs. Crabtree’s backyard. The squirrel stayed in the tree that day, but he appeared the next day and the next, always watching me and Mr. Bradley Cat from the treetop. I suspected that he could see when I was eating, and he perked up when I ate the almonds. Still, he never came into my yard. That evening after I finished reading, I left a few nuts on the plank bench where I had been sitting, and I went inside. The next day, the nuts were gone. I left food for him a few more times, and eventually, he was sitting on the fence begging and eating while I was there.
Soon, he would climb up my leg and take the food out of the bag or out of my hand. He could smell it. I hid it in my shirt pocket and he climbed my shirt and dug it out of the pocket. This went on every day for a few months, and by winter, he was plump. He alway came alone.
Below is Itchy Squirrel
He visited almost every day, and I noticed that he had some quirky behaviours. This photo reminds me of a couple of them. One is that he would stand upright on his hind legs and scratch his nuts. It is why I start called him “Itchy.” He even answered to his name. I would go outside and call him, “Itchy Ithcy Ithcy Itchy Itchy come here Itchy Itchy Itchy”, and within a few minutes, he appeared.
After a couple of months, another squirrel had taken to watching me from Mrs. Crabtree’s treetop. She was very shy and skinny and did to dare come into my yard.
That winter was cold and it stayed below 10° F for a few weeks. I had the feeling that the only reason Itchy was healthy is because I fed him every day. On one cold day late in the winter, I looked out of the kitchen window and saw that the new squirrel had come and was eating the seeds and nuts I left on the rail for her. She was scrawny and very fearful. She was shaking too. The skin on her face was bare from her nose to her ears like all her fur and been ripped out or fell out. She had scabs and cuts all over her face. Her nose was bloody, and one ear was torn.
Mr. Itchy was perched in Mrs. Crabtree’s treetop silently watching her eat. He did not come to eat which was odd. The skinny squirrel finished eating and climbed up the tree where Itchy was watching. He immediately jumped on her and attacked her. It was a bad fight. She ran away chittering, jumping from tree to power line and ran across the street, jumped into another tree, and disappeared. Itchy ran after her. I heard their angry chittering from across the street for several more minutes.
Since then, I often saw her and Itchy together in the trees with a litter of babies and realized they were a family. She was Itchy’s (Squirrel) wife and the matriarch of the squirrel family.
Aelyssa saw how sickly she was and made some special squirrel food. It was a pine cone covered in peanut butter, rolled into seeds and nuts, and baked. Mrs. Itchy and her pups/kittens/squirrel babies began eating the pine cone food in the backyard every day, and by early Spring, she had put on weight. Although always nervous, she became brave enough to eat when I was there. Itchy himself watched her from the tree and never ate when she was here. Sometimes, he attacked her when she finished eating.
The Professor was one next door neighbor as I already mentioned, and Mrs. Crabtree was my other next door neighbor. She was retired and had been widowed several years earlier. She liked to see what her neighbors were doing.
One day soon after establishing my habit of reading in the backyard, I noticed a squirrel watching me from the top of a tree in Mrs. Crabtree’s backyard. The squirrel stayed in the tree that day, but he appeared the next day and the next, always watching me and Mr. Bradley Cat from the treetop. I suspected that he could see when I was eating, and he perked up when I ate the almonds. Still, he never came into my yard. That evening after I finished reading, I left a few nuts on the plank bench where I had been sitting, and I went inside. The next day, the nuts were gone. I left food for him a few more times, and eventually, he was sitting on the fence begging and eating while I was there.
Soon, he would climb up my leg and take the food out of the bag or out of my hand. He could smell it. I hid it in my shirt pocket and he climbed my shirt and dug it out of the pocket. This went on every day for a few months, and by winter, he was plump. He alway came alone.
Below is Itchy Squirrel
He visited almost every day, and I noticed that he had some quirky behaviours. This photo reminds me of a couple of them. One is that he would stand upright on his hind legs and scratch his nuts. It is why I start called him “Itchy.” He even answered to his name. I would go outside and call him, “Itchy Ithcy Ithcy Itchy Itchy come here Itchy Itchy Itchy”, and within a few minutes, he appeared.
After a couple of months, another squirrel had taken to watching me from Mrs. Crabtree’s treetop. She was very shy and skinny and did to dare come into my yard.
That winter was cold and it stayed below 10° F for a few weeks. I had the feeling that the only reason Itchy was healthy is because I fed him every day. On one cold day late in the winter, I looked out of the kitchen window and saw that the new squirrel had come and was eating the seeds and nuts I left on the rail for her. She was scrawny and very fearful. She was shaking too. The skin on her face was bare from her nose to her ears like all her fur and been ripped out or fell out. She had scabs and cuts all over her face. Her nose was bloody, and one ear was torn.
Mr. Itchy was perched in Mrs. Crabtree’s treetop silently watching her eat. He did not come to eat which was odd. The skinny squirrel finished eating and climbed up the tree where Itchy was watching. He immediately jumped on her and attacked her. It was a bad fight. She ran away chittering, jumping from tree to power line and ran across the street, jumped into another tree, and disappeared. Itchy ran after her. I heard their angry chittering from across the street for several more minutes.
Since then, I often saw her and Itchy together in the trees with a litter of babies and realized they were a family. She was Itchy’s (Squirrel) wife and the matriarch of the squirrel family.
Aelyssa saw how sickly she was and made some special squirrel food. It was a pine cone covered in peanut butter, rolled into seeds and nuts, and baked. Mrs. Itchy and her pups/kittens/squirrel babies began eating the pine cone food in the backyard every day, and by early Spring, she had put on weight. Although always nervous, she became brave enough to eat when I was there. Itchy himself watched her from the tree and never ate when she was here. Sometimes, he attacked her when she finished eating.
