Hola!
I'm pleased to report that the little fella has survived the weekend. The right rear leg seems to be totally useless (broken?) and it also looks like he lost about half of his tail, which doesn't help with his balance issues with the useless leg.
However, he's plucky! He's been showing up very early in the morning to feed before the other (bigger) squirrels are around to knock him out of the way. He was out there early Saturday, yesterday and this morning. He's digging around where I throw the bird seed every morning, maybe eating whatever sunflower seeds he can find. I've thrown almonds (in the shell) down there but he doesn't seem to have connected them with "food" yet, and the other squirrels come in and take the almonds as the morning goes on. It doesn't take long!
Mr. Gimpy Squirrel also found a hidey-hole amidst the piled-up logs that are laid against the north fence down below the retaining wall by the big tree. I've seen him tuck into an opening between the logs whenever he feels threatened, and then some minutes later if I watch long enough I see his nose peek out! After seeing him do this Saturday morning, I thought he might have taken up residence and I was worried all day - what if it rained (the area can flood if we get a lot of rain). What if a predator comes along? And I was out there with my very noisy and scary gas lawnmower, cutting the grass, and then later on I was down in the area trimming the black berry tree/bush!
I was relieved when I saw him out there again, Sunday morning.
At first I thought he might be living in that log hidey-hole, but this morning, when it seems he'd had enough to eat (or the competition from the other squirrels was getting to be too much for him), I watched him laboriously climb all the way up one of the tree trunks on the Big Tree to a limb way off the ground, where an old squirrels nest rests (used last season and now abandoned). I saw him go in and not come back out, so I figure he's living there now. It's good to know he's off the ground where he would be easy prey to predators because he can't move very well or quickly. This photo of that limb was taken from my second floor bedroom window, which is below the level of the nest Mr. Gimpy has moved into! The nest is in the high "V" formed by two branches on the right. It is barely visible - it looks like a sort of "hairy lump" in the "V."
I hope he makes it. Since losing Mr. Tipsy Squirrel, who made it through a nasty winter only to disappear in April, my heart has been aching. Oh I know it's foolish to get so attached to wild animals - and to squirrels in particular, since many people consider them vermin and/or food!
But to see him, so tiny and helpless, and yet he's fighting to survive as hard as he can because he doesn't know how to do anything else, just touches my heart.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Gimpy Squirrel Update
Hola!
I'm pleased to report that the little fella has survived the weekend. The right rear leg seems to be totally useless (broken?) and it also looks like he lost about half of his tail, which doesn't help with his balance issues with the useless leg.
However, he's plucky! He's been showing up very early in the morning to feed before the other (bigger) squirrels are around to knock him out of the way. He was out there early Saturday, yesterday and this morning. He's digging around where I throw the bird seed every morning, maybe eating whatever sunflower seeds he can find. I've thrown almonds (in the shell) down there but he doesn't seem to have connected them with "food" yet, and the other squirrels come in and take the almonds as the morning goes on. It doesn't take long!
Mr. Gimpy Squirrel also found a hidey-hole amidst the piled-up logs that are laid against the north fence down below the retaining wall by the big tree. I've seen him tuck into an opening between the logs whenever he feels threatened, and then some minutes later if I watch long enough I see his nose peek out! After seeing him do this Saturday morning, I thought he might have taken up residence and I was worried all day - what if it rained (the area can flood if we get a lot of rain). What if a predator comes along? And I was out there with my very noisy and scary gas lawnmower, cutting the grass, and then later on I was down in the area trimming the black berry tree/bush!
I was relieved when I saw him out there again, Sunday morning.
At first I thought he might be living in that log hidey-hole, but this morning, when it seems he'd had enough to eat (or the competition from the other squirrels was getting to be too much for him), I watched him laboriously climb all the way up one of the tree trunks on the Big Tree to a limb way off the ground, where an old squirrels nest rests (used last season and now abandoned). I saw him go in and not come back out, so I figure he's living there now. It's good to know he's off the ground where he would be easy prey to predators because he can't move very well or quickly. This photo of that limb was taken from my second floor bedroom window, which is below the level of the nest Mr. Gimpy has moved into! The nest is in the high "V" formed by two branches on the right. It is barely visible - it looks like a sort of "hairy lump" in the "V."
I hope he makes it. Since losing Mr. Tipsy Squirrel, who made it through a nasty winter only to disappear in April, my heart has been aching. Oh I know it's foolish to get so attached to wild animals - and to squirrels in particular, since many people consider them vermin and/or food!
But to see him, so tiny and helpless, and yet he's fighting to survive as hard as he can because he doesn't know how to do anything else, just touches my heart.
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