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 Welcome to Wiser Now’s weekly email blast which reflects my eclectic interests and, I hope, yours. This week, my focus is on Squirrel Awareness Month because they make me laugh, and it’s time for a bit of fun. It’s also Nut Month, but I’m only mentioning it to note squirrels’ favorite kinds when they are not stealing black oil sunflower seeds from birdfeeders. Read on for lots more quirky facts to squirrel away.
I hope you find these offerings fun, and perhaps even useful, and welcome your feedback. (Kathy@WiserNow.com) And if you haven’t yet pressed the subscribe button so this newsletter doesn’t go to spam, please do so now.
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There are nearly 300 species of squirrels, plus a bunch of subspecies, and they make a lot of different noises related to mating, sounding an alarm, and general communication. Here’s the promised quacking sound, and another that sounds surprisingly bird-like to me.
 I hesitate to highlight squirrel experiments, but I am also fascinated with flying squirrels (which are really gliding squirrels), and since they are nocturnal creatures, most videos are shot at night and not very clear. This video of a biology professor releasing a flying squirrel in daylight from a boom lift over a football field surrounded by trees was probably a rude awakening for the squirrel but seems to have been done with a fair amount of sensitivity and respect.
 Twiggy, the waterskiing squirrel, seems much more exploitive, and yet, there is every indication that Twiggy, originally a family pet found as an orphan, was dearly loved. Squirrels are good swimmers, but don’t generally like to swim. Twiggy, who liked draping herself over family members’ shoulders in their backyard pool may have been an exception. She didn’t seem to mind being towed on buoyant foam blocks behind a remote-controlled toy boat in the presence of hundreds of spectators, but as this animal act provided family income for nearly 40 years (and adult squirrel life expectancy is on average about 6 years, although much longer in captivity) it’s hard to know if all the squirrels who replaced her over the years were as amenable to the towing. Still, according to Wikipedia, they all lived out their old age as family pets. Hmmm.
 The Quirky Observations
I am a champion of squirrels and their funny, acrobatic antics, but I reach my limit when it comes to their invasion of bird feeders. Birdfeeders are for birds. Squirrels have access to acorns and other nuts, and it is more often greed than necessity that drives them to birdfeeders.
First, an aside: A lot has been said about squirrels and how many nuts (usually acorns) they lose track of after burying them. Although they can find nuts partially by smell, experiments have shown that they really do remember where they bury perhaps as much as 80% of their cache. When you consider that they may bury as many as 10,000 acorns a year, that’s a LOT of places to remember. Plus, unretrieved acorns often become oak trees, so squirrels are foresters, too.
 How then, can you keep them from birdfeeders? There are special kinds that purport to be squirrel proof, but squirrels are clever little devils. Here are a few interesting suggestions:
- Try a cage birdfeeder. Small birds can slip through the spaces, but squirrels cannot.
- Use a slinky. As this video shows, it bounces them off. Usually.
- Squirrels and birds taste things differently. For instance, birds don’t taste the heat of chili peppers, but they leave a bad taste in the mouths of squirrels. (How does anyone know this?!?) Be aware that a little goes a long way. Try a tablespoon or so of cayenne pepper in a 10-pound bag of seed and mix well.
- Without meaning to disparage any brands or men who use them, many bird lovers have found they can squirrel-proof their feeders by hanging a bar of Irish Spring soap in a sock nearby. The scent supposedly repels other unwanted rodents, too. (There’s a joke in there somewhere.)
Find more ideas under resources.
The Shameless Request
 Now that WNW is an award-winning publication, we think even more people would be interested in it if they knew about it. Please share it, and if you represent an organization that would like a customized version, send me a note at Kathy@WiserNow.com.
The Questions
- Are you a squirrel-lover, a bird-lover, both, or neither?
- What’s the oddest or funniest squirrel behavior you’ve witnessed?
- How do you feel about trained squirrels?
The Featured Product
 Each month for many years now, I have been providing live Zoom training webinars for activity professionals in long-term care settings that are customized for a specific client. I now have a range of over 60 topics, not quite A to Z, but definitely A (Art) through W (Weekend and evening programming). I put a great deal of effort into making them as practical and engaging as possible, and it would please me to present a variation for other clients. Recently I gave one on the importance of imagination, a topic I am passionate about. Contact me at Kathy@WiserNow.com if you would like to learn more.
 The Quiz
1. The many species and subspecies of squirrels include tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, praire dogs, and beavers.
True ___ False ___
2. With some exceptions, squirrels are herbivores that especially love nuts and seeds, and especially acorns, hickory nuts, and walnuts. Their sharp teeth not only can gnaw through those hard shells, but need to because if not both sharpened and worn down by doing so, those incisors would grow an astonishing six inches a year.
True ___ False ___
 3. Squirrels can be found on every continent except Antarctica. True ___ False ___
4. Squirrels have extremely sharp toes, rather than claws, plus double-jointed hind legs that enable them to turn their ankles 180 degrees, which is what accounts for their agility in climbing up and down trees.
True ___ False ___
5. Squirrels can leap 10 times their body length, jump up to six feet vertically, and fall from surprising heights without hurting themselves by using their tails as a parachute.
True ___ False ___
6. Squirrels are quick studies and learn by observation but are respectful of other squirrels’ nut caches.
True ___ False ___
7. Squirrels are justifiably paranoid, and to deter would-be robbers, squirrels will not only rebury a cache of nuts multiple times, but, if they believe they are being watched, will pretend to bury a nut, going through all the motions, but keeping it hidden for later.
True ___ False ___
8. Squirrels need to bury a lot of nuts because they eat their body weight (about1.5 pounds) in a week.
True ___ False ___
The Resources Not all the above sources agree with each other, but to the best of my knowledge, these are the correct answers: True: 2, 4, 5, 7, 8
1. False, not beavers, but marmots, which are somewhat beaver-like.
3. False, there are no squirrels in Australia either, which is why Australians are so amused by them when they travel abroad.
6. False, squirrels have no compunction about stealing other squirrels’ caches.
Here’s a video showing a squirrel’s acorn-gnawing ability: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zyI6vn9Azg
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My multiple goals are to amuse and inspire you, to share what I and people whom I admire are doing, to stimulate your curiosity and spur you to action. I hope you enjoyed this offering. You can access previous issues here. We welcome your feedback. (Kathy@WiserNow.com)
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The Quirky Quote
