SQUIRRELS AND CORN

Back on line and thank you Sandra at Madsnapper who told me about the blogging app for my iPhone.   It came in useful for letting you know that I was having trouble, but I am very happy with my laptop back in action again.  It is an old one but keeps on ticking, touch wood!  I also have my old Paint Shop Pro on there and haven’t found anything I like better.  It is probably because I am used to it and fits me like a comfortable old shoe.  I don’t take to change very well and that’s a secret I probably should keep to myself but what the hey!  Is blogger taking notes?  I am still getting used to that change!

Anyhow I do hope your special time over the holiday season was a good one considering.   Ours was very quiet this year but we ended up enjoying ourselves and making the most of keeping in touch with everyone through this wonderful technology at our fingertips.  Demons it may have but I am not sure I want to do without it any more, and it keeps us all connected.  

I am starting off with an old post, as seems to be the way it is these days.  Quite a while ago we went shopping and came back with bird seed and dried corn cobs.  With neighborhood bear safely tucked up for the winter months, it was decided the birds and squirrels needed to be taken care of, as is our norm at this time of the year.  

Yes I love squirrels and have found them very entertaining all these years.  A man who saw me at a garden taking photos once, asked why was I taking photos of those nasty little tree rats!  I can’t actually remember what I replied, but I defended them vehemently.  How dare he insult my dear little tree rats...errrr, squirrels.   Yes they are a rodent but even so...

A few facts about them, did you know a squirrel's front teeth never stop growing?  This is a common characteristic of other rodents also.  The word 'rodent' actually derives from the Latin "rodere", which means to gnaw.

Squirrels can find food buried beneath a foot of snow.  Food is important during the cold winter months for squirrels.  It makes sense, therefore, that some species are able to smell food under a foot of snow.  The squirrel will then dig a tunnel under the snow, following the scent to their (or another squirrel's) food supply.

Squirrels may lose 25 percent of their buried food to thieves.  And that's just from members of their own species.  Scatter hoarders (squirrels with multiple caches of food) have a difficult time keeping an eye on all of their hidden food. Fellow squirrels or birds often take advantage of this for a free meal. 

Squirrels may pretend to bury a nut to throw off potential thieves.  They have been observed engaging in 'deceptive caching’.  This is where a squirrel digs a hole and vigorously covers it up again, but without depositing the nut.  It seems this is done to throw off potential food thieves.

Squirrels don't dig up all of their buried nuts, which results in more trees!  They have accidentally contributed countless trees to our nation's forests.  That alone should make us appreciate squirrels a little more tree rat man!  

A newborn squirrel is about an inch long.  

When squirrels feel threatened, they run away in a zigzag pattern.  This is an incredibly useful strategy to escape hawks and other predators.  

They get bulky to stay warm during the winter, and putting on some extra weight is one strategy they use to stay warm during the cold winter months.

In Greek the word 'squirrel' means 'shadow tail'.

Squirrels can jump a distance of up to 20 feet.  They have long, muscular hind legs and short front legs that work together to aid in leaping.

The hind legs of squirrels are double-jointed, which gives them the ability to run up and down trees very quickly.  

Squirrels have 4 toes on their front feet, which are extremely sharp and used for gripping tree bark whilst climbing.  They also have 5 toes on their back feet.

Now that we are back on line it will be good catching up with you all over the next few days.  As I mentioned previously, it was due to a faulty modem.  Our cable company sent us a brand new one and it arrived in the mail yesterday.  Fast service, very helpful and patient help desk and much appreciated.  

A continued shout-out and a big thank you to all of you out there who are front line and essential workers.  I will never take any of you for granted.  We owe you a debt we will never be able to repay.  

Things are so dire for so many people here and around the world.  I am hoping 2021 will be the light at the end of your tunnel. 

Thanks for looking and enjoy the rest of your week.