OT Squirrels Flipping Out

[Shiva]

Now that we have had some cool weather (80s F daytime, 60s nights) the chipmunks and squirrels and of course VOLES (grrrr) are out and about more, and the squirrels are doing something really weird.

They dig out a little scooped place in the rose bed or at the base of one of the big old oaks, then they leap like 3 feet up in the air and flip when they hit the ground and flop around. They seem to take turns doing this and wind up on their bellies with their tails sort of laying down flat on their backs. They appear to be having a great time.

I have seen this before but it was in the spring and I attributed it to mating behavior. But they don't mate in the fall, do they?

[Heidi]

They may have been worshiping a deity, but I think it is more likely that they were practicing for the upcoming Squirrel Olympics. The gymnastics competition is extremely fierce. The russian squirrels, under the guidance of Bella Traversetrees usually takes the gold, but this year the US team is determined to beat them. While the gymnastics competition will be tough, the US team is heavily favored in the car darting slalom, drain pipe skeleton, and bird feeder--crack the code and eat biathlon. Of course, its anyone's guess as to whether team mates may be disqualified for the use of catnip or poppy seeds.

Heidi

Shiva wrote:

[Madgardener]

[Shiva]

Oh, man! Really? I wonder if this "ppullueaneankal" has anything to do with the great big old piles of *ahem* that look like Moose Poo I'm finding in the vicinity of the Squirrel Flipping Launch Pads?

Thanks Salty, that explains a lot.

Just one more question: why do I keep finding my landscaping timbers rearranged in a railroad track pattern? And who is that dark guy with the moustache and cape who runs away snickering just before I hear a geeky voice piping "I'M COMING NELL!?"

[Shiva]

Oh! Should I put out little saucers of Gatorade?

[Shiva]

Well, good for you, but there's no way I'm hosing my squirrels.

Honestly, people, they are doing this. None of you have seen it? Really?

[dave weil]

No, you should put out a couple of gators.

Maybe they'll take care of the voles as well...

[dave weil]

I can't remember seeing a squirrel in my neighborhood since I've moved here.

Weird.

[Paul E. Lehmann]

I saw them doing similar things this spring when they are my tulips. Maybe they are eating a hallucinogen (or however it is spelled)

>

[Shiva]

From my experience with voles and Rozol, if any of your neighbors put out any sort of rodent poison (rats can be a real problem in city neighborhoods) the squirrels appear to think this is some sort of delicacy and they will move mountains to get to it. (So, this is why you may not have any squirrels.) I placed the pellets inside the vole holes, then put heavy stones/buckets etc on top,but the squirrels worked hard and got to them. The second time I found a big fat cute squirrel dead I had to give up the Rozol.

[Shiva]

Hmmm. So maybe my squirrels are tripping? After a spring and summer of way too much rain, there are some huge mushroom patches out there and some of those gross looking dog vomit fungi, too.

[dave weil]

to them. The second

I think it might be a function of the masses of stray dogs that use to roam the neighborhood (they've mostly been rounded up, but the squirrels haven't repopulated). It could be all of the cats as well.

We don't have many rats (never seen one around here, but that doesn't mean that they're not here) but we have plenty of field mice and other small rodents. Fortunately, my cat, which is mostly an outdoor cat that I adopted, has taken care of most of them on my property.

[Salty Thumb]

"Madgardener" wrote in news:KuN6b.1218$ [e-mail]:

Nah, just means I watched way too many cartoons when I was a kid.

[Charles Perry]

The only good tree rat is a dead tree rat.

Regards,

Charles

-- Charles Perry Reply to: [e-mail]

** A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand **

[Mark. Gooley]

"Shiva" wrote

Strange. When I lived in a rental house in Gainesville, Florida for a year and kept my bamboos in large pots (so that I could move them onto the land I eventually bought), the squirrels ate the new shoots. I bought various rodent poisons. They remained untouched and I had to make wire cages around the bamboos to have any new shoots at all to make new culms.

Your squirrels may vary.

Mark. [e-mail]

[Lar]

In article , [e-mail] says... :) I placed the pellets inside the vole holes, :) then put heavy stones/buckets etc on top,but the squirrels worked hard and got to them. The second :) time I found a big fat cute squirrel dead I had to give up the Rozol. :) :) You can probably have luck protecting your squirrels by placing bait blocks for rats inside heavy plastic bait stations that will secure the bait inside instead of loose bait to be dug up. I have plenty of customers who wish the squirrels would feed on the rat bait.

[Shiva]

Don't mince words, Charles, tell us how you really feel!

I think they're fun to watch. I might feel differently if they bothered my roses.

[Shiva]

OMG! Chocolate! Wasted on Squirrels? What were you thinking?

Well this sounds just mysterious and sinister to make me ask

"Why don't they stay around there very long?"

[Salty Thumb]

"Shiva" wrote in news:aHlwYXRpYQ==. [e-mail]:

Have you tried exploiting the squirrels? Like videotape them and send it to "America's Funniest (Home) Videos". Or you probably could make more money by wrapping one in aluminum foil, give it a plastic fork, videotape it and send to Fox's "When Animals Attack!".

[zebrin]

(heidi,dave,scott etc.) HAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHA toooooooo funny

; - ) Thanks,

Zebrin