Fox squirrels weren’t found in the Salt Lake Valley until the summer of 2011, when they were reported along the Jordan River in the Glendale neighborhood. Since then they have rapidly expanded along the Wasatch front. I didn’t see them here in Murray until a few years later and now they’re common here.
They’re invasive in Utah and they can be a pest, but their antics make them hard not to love. And earlier this week I documented a new (to me) fox squirrel behavior.
Several times I saw a squirrel eating the white impatiens blossoms I have planted at the deeply shaded west end of my garden. At times squirrels would scurry around my garden with the very conspicuous white flower petals in their mouths.
Then, last Saturday, when I saw a squirrel running from right to left across the top of the green fence you see in this photo with a gob of bright white in its mouth, I initially made the assumption that it was carrying more impatiens flowers. I was wrong.
Later that day, while my friend and neighbor Shane Smith and I were visiting on my patio, we saw the squirrel doing the same thing but this time I was able to get some photos and eventually figure out what the squirrel was carrying.
Instead of flowers, it was a huge gob of white fluff of some kind. From a distance it looked a little like cottonwood cotton but it’s the wrong time of year for that.
When the squirrel got near my smaller of two catalpa trees it stopped, looked up, and…
jumped up onto an overhanging catalpa limb, then disappeared in the leaves high up in the tree.
When it jumped I cut off its head but I got a good look at all eight teats and they were engorged. Which suggested that she’s building a nest (drey) up there. (Does anyone else see a Barn Owl’s heart-shaped face where the two bottom teats are the owl’s eyes?)
Five minutes later she ran across the fence again with another slightly smaller gob of white stuff in her mouth. This photo was taken just as she was beginning to jump up to the same catalpa limb as before. At that point, both Shane and I were determined to figure out what that white stuff was and where she was getting it.
Each time she came down from the tree she ran back along the top of the fence and disappeared in my back neighbor’s yard. So I peered over my back fence and Shane climbed up on the roof of his storage shed, allowing us to solve the mystery.
She was getting the white stuff she was making her drey out of from some kind of old mattress or lounge chair pad at the back of my neighbor’s garage.
Time and again she would gather up a gob of mattress stuffing, then…
jump up to the top of…
a nearby old bed post? and then run across my neighbor’s back yard (where I couldn’t see her) and reappear at the corner fence post that I share with my neighbor. From there I could see her from my patio as she ran across my fence and then up into the catalpa tree.
This photo is the best I could do to allow readers to visualize her well-used path.
On the ground, behind their garage and below the red “A”, is where she gathered the mattress stuffing. From there she would run across their back yard and reappear at “B”, the top of our shared fence corner post. Then she’d run across the top of the green fence to “C” where she would jump up into the smaller catalpa tree. Somewhere up there she would move from the smaller tree to the larger catalpa tree at left and then to the drey she’s constructing at “D” near the top of the larger tree. She repeated the process again and again.
Mature female fox squirrels usually have babies twice each year, once in early spring and a second time in early fall, typically in September. Maybe this female has already given birth to a litter, or will soon.
I’ll admit to being excited about the possibility. Baby squirrels should be fun to watch and photograph. I guess I’m willing to pay the price in stolen bird seed and other inevitable mischief.
Ron
PS – An update on some of my recent migrating backyard birds (documentary quality photos only).
The Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay stuck around for about 10 days. This is the last photo I got of him or her, in deep shade of course.
This female Western Tanager made a habit of hunting insects near the top of my larger catalpa tree in mid-morning when the sun warmed up the leaves and made the insects more active. She was always high up and never cooperative but I got a few documentary photos.
And she was a skilled hunter, as evidenced by this wasp in her mouth. It was entertaining to watch her try to avoid being stung.
Skwirls of every type are entertaining, even if also a tad destructive. I’ve had families of the tree-type living next door for years, and they spend a good part of the day working on my seed and suet feeders. They also dig up/damage the drip irrigation, looking for the peanuts their brethren or the ScrubJays have buried. So that’s a bummer, but still … entertaining! And now I have a couple of the ground variety showing up every day.
Looking forward to seeing what shenanigans you’ll be able to photograph later this year! 😊
Your squirrels and your humor provided me a good chuckle. Always welcome. Nice stories, Ron.
Much appreciated, Nina. Thank you.
Interesting story and photos Ron. Nature moves on regardless of
our actions. I live on a golf course here in Prescott AZ and we have
rabbits of course, and pack rats, and lot of gophers, but no squirrels.
But in our National Forests here and around our various lakes we
have AZ Grey Squirrels, Rock Squirrels, and our handsome Abert’s Squirrels.
Thanks, Everett. I’ve always wanted to see an Abert’s Squirrel. And a Kaibab squirrel. I’ve never seen either one.
take a drive down to Flagstaff Ron
Squirrels are resourceful little critters, aren’t they! Many years ago a friend of mine had a mama give birth in the space between her window and broken storm window. Perfect vantage point! I was able to see them a couple of times when I drove up from Urbana to her apartment in Chicago to visit.
“Perfect vantage point.”
No kidding, Marty! A setup so perfect you’d think it was designed by a behavioral scientist.
You won’t think they are so cute after they eat and or destroy your plants and dig holes everywhere and eat your bird food! I have a constantly growing squirrel family and all their friends and relatives from surrounding areas. The youngsters will rip off small branches from your trees as they are learning to build nests of their own. But aren’t they cute!!
“You won’t think they are so cute after they eat and or destroy your plants and dig holes everywhere and eat your bird food!”
Ellen, I’ve had all that happen and I still think they’re “cute”. But they’re also a royal pain in the ass.
Yep. Right there with you.
Your squirrel story is so funny! I have a similar one. We keep Tibetan Prayer Flags hanging along our back fence ever since a trek in Nepal several years ago. This spring and summer, our backyard squirrel has decided she / he wants them for something, probably to line a nest, and several times we have seen her running across our fence with prayer flags trailing behind her. Even though she is taking something meaningful to us, we just have to laugh and replace them! I’ll try to get a photo next time!!
Interesting behavior, Holly. Good luck getting the photos.
Really enjoyed the pictures and commentary. Nice way to start the day. 😊
Good. Thanks, Laurie.
I’ve only seen Mexican ground squirrels here. But they are fun to watch. There used to be a very obnoxious one.
It liked to run the cinderblock wall behind my house. Then find the optimal sunning spot and do the sploot. Full layout. I loved letting the dogs out. This squirrel ignored them as they barked and jumped.
My neighbor and her neighbor reported the same thing. This squirrel got its jollies by annoying the dogs. Lololol
“the sploot”
Love that, Arwen. A perfect descriptor.
I have an abundance of the fox squirrels in my yard. I have observed them eating petunia flowers and ice plants. They have also destroyed more than one patio furniture pad. They don’t wait for the pad to deteriorate they start the process by tearing the covers. I always seem to have young ones as well.
“They don’t wait for the pad to deteriorate they start the process by tearing the covers.”
Now that would make me an unhappy camper.
What fun! A great series. I look forward to the new arrivals, and future squirrel antics
Thanks, Kate.
As long as they don’t become real pests !! Some mornings I sit on my deck overlooking the back yard and count 10 or 12 Grey Squirrels rooting around in the grass.. As long as they stay out on the grass I’m a happy camper but when they climb up onto the second story deck looking for food, dig in my potted plants and leave their poop & pee on my deck furniture, I draw the line. They are no longer cute additions to the neighborhood !!
I agree, Gary – they can be troublesome. This year I only planted two eggplant plants and a fox squirrel destroyed one of them by gnawing the plant down at its base like a lumberjack.