Squirrel house building 101 – Go fetch me a leaf
You might have heard of birds feathering their nest and everyone knows that beavers fell trees to make their homes and their dams. What do squirrels do?
One day, just before the rain and snow arrived, I looked out the window and saw squirrels scurrying up and down the tree in our backyard. At first, I didn’t think about it much since there are always squirrels scurrying around in our back yard. Then, I looked closer.
Have you ever wondered how squirrels make their nest high up in the trees. Well, here is the answer, one mouthful at a time.
As far as I could tell there were five squirrels involved in the task of collecting leaves and during the short period that I was watching, they must have made at least twenty trips up and down the tree truck before stopping for a rest.
Although they seemed to be all working for the same team, there were still moments when they would stop and chatter at each other so there is a possibility that there was more than one group involved. Whatever the case, the leaves in my backyard must have been just the right dryness for ‘harvesting’ because they were in high demand and rapidly leaving the yard one mouthful at a time.
Tech: Images taken from second story window using my Nikon D300 with a vintage manual focus Nikkor 300mm f4.5 lens. Lots of small branches and twigs between me and the squirrels.
