Err.. Not that wild....

I thought you might like to see this.

This is a photo of our pet grey squirrel around 1970, which the kids brought home theyâ??d found abandoned in a local park. There was no sign of the mother. In all our years of observing squirrels in the several places weâ??ve lived, weâ??d never seen one as small, it would fit in the palm of your hand. Miraculously it survived (might have been due to an early diet of Farex) and grew to the present adult size in the photo.



She had the run of the house and was actually house trained, she had her own toilet tray. Of an evening sheâ??d curl up on your lap while you watched TV. They use their tails as a blanket. If you decided to move, you might move her tail to look at her face to see if she was asleep. If she didnâ??t want to be moved, sheâ??d give you a â??lookâ?, grab hold of the end of her tail and put it back over her head. They have â??properâ? hands not really paws, four long fingers and a thumb. They can climb anything other than a smooth object, by either using their hands and feet to grip, or their long claws. She could run up my wifeâ??s tights, grip and climb the folds of her skirt, run up her closely knitted sweater and sit on her shoulder in a flash, causing no damage at all. Sheâ??d occasionally take peanuts from her food dish, climb up onto my lap and stuff a few in the top pocket of my shirt or a fold in my jumper.

Her â??favouriteâ? food was ice cream.

I remember once when we were moving house, we took her with us in a small wicker basket. We were all travelling by train (first class, perks of the job). My wife had the basket on her lap. There were a couple of looks from â??city typesâ? at the basket, being carefully held by my wife, all of a sudden a little head popped out between the two sections of the cover, had a good look round and then dived back in. Caused a bit of a reaction.
She liked to play â??chaseâ? with the kids.
We were all heartbroken when she died, sheâ??d have been about four.

This is our eldest son, (never worry about kids of this age who spend a lot of time playing with Leggo). Heâ??s now a consultant engineer and travels the world. The squirrel is looking rather wary; she didnâ??t like the Evening News photographer or his big camera.

Consequently, weâ??ve always had a soft spot for squirrels. I donâ??t believe all this nonsense about them stealing birdsâ?? eggs etc., in suburban areas where lots of people feed them. Over the years several squirrels have always visited our garden, they have a tray for their peanuts, the birds have another for their food (I have to buy a couple of sacks of each, every year). The birds and the squirrels â??play nicelyâ? feeding within a couple of feet of each other. The squirrels often â??see offâ? the greedy wood pigeons (theyâ??re the size of chickens) they seem to know my wife doesnâ??t like them. But they ignore the blackbirds and several smaller varieties.

 

What a lovely tale (or tail!) We also have a soft spot for squirrels, even though they dig up my bulbs each year!

 

Thanks for that...


"Ours" play golf in the mornings, they must do, as I have to repair the "divots "they've taken in my lawn.

 

Thanks for sharing that what a wonderful story