Teeth Clicking?

[SquirrelNut]

When Squirrels exhibit this behavior what exactly are they saying?

I know it is NOT good!:D

I had Nos out to clean his Cage. Put him back in it to vacuum. I let him out again afterwards. His teeth were clicking. Is it fear? I figured the vacuum frightened him.

When I noticed it, he was sitting on my shoulder! I knew I couldn't try and grab him but was quite anxious until I could get him off quickly! Threw a walnut into his Cage, and he followed!

He did this about a year ago and attacked me badly afterwards so just freaked me out some!

I need to buy new leather gloves. Would you believe a few months ago, he pulled one of my gloves into his Cage and destroyed it! Smart critter!:rotfl

Is it also due to Spring weather and that time of year????:multi

Thanks!

[djarenspace9]

When my Missy chatters her teeth at me it means she has a nut stashed somewhere...anywhere...it could be one single tiny acorn...doesn't matter...she's warning me that she will protect it! :D

[SammysMom]

Oh boy is that familiar!!! What it means in my house is "I am about to be a huge jerk!" I use the toss a nut method myself and by the time he eats or hides it, he is over whatever little breakdown he was having. Mostly he does it if it's 7am rather than 6am when he gets released from his overnight cage.
When teeth click, look out! :osnap

[SquirrelNut]

oh, dear!:D

i thought maybe it was a "fear response!" at least, i know i had a fear response w/him on my shoulder next to my NECK!

i remember the damage he did to my hand last year and didn't want my neck w/the same thing!:D

[Jackie in Tampa]

clicking teeth combined with a hunched back...blood!

[SammysMom]

Exactly Jackie!!! Much blood was shed discovering this iin our house...lol :osnap

[Jackie in Tampa]

:shakehead I wrestle alligators daily...they wear little cute outfits with bushy tails...and require bandaids!
Yep...gotta house full of gators!:sanp3

[Kristal]

They seem to do it when they are uncertain in general. If they are hurt they do it, too. It's never been followed by aggressive behaviour for me. If they are upset because of a noise, I say something comforting and distract them. If it is because I woke them up, I offer to pet them (and wait for them to accept) or just give them some soothing words and the shh-shh-shh sound, and they usually let me pet them or calm down. If it is because they are defending their stash, I say oh sorry, pull my head back a bit and then look away to do something else. It seems to be just a "my personal space" statement. If I do something non-intrusive and reassuring, things are fine.

Additional clues could be where the ears are pointed, the tilt of their head and direction of their gaze. Their ears go back and their mouth opens to bare teeth when they are angry and getting close to biting. They otherwise point their ears at whatever they are paying attention to. If the squirrels ears are to the side and s/he is standing stock-still, then they are just paying attention to their general environment because they heard a funny noise that is probably outside the range of human hearing.

A mistake would be to hold their gaze, unblinking, for too long, especially if you move (your hand) closer after doing that and/or raise the pitch of your voice. They have a trust gesture that is similar to cats. Cats will look at you from a distance and close their eyes to say I would trust you enough to take a nap around you. The polite thing to do is blink your eyes until they stay closed for a moment back at the cat. Squirrels do that, too, and this is a good time to give an eye closing gaze. Sometimes squirrels finish that gesture with a bit of lip smacking like they are bruxing. I have done that towards them and had them do it back to me, then curl up into a relaxed position, apparently feeling more comfortable about the situation. I guess I just try to say "ok, your space" in such a way that they understand me, and it is working so far.

For the confrontational teeth chatter with a straight on or tilted gaze (with eye contact) and flattened ears, I notice that the other squirrel just holds the gaze for a quick moment and then turns away. It seems like an acknowledgement of their personal assertion over the right to be in this spot and then showing that they do not intend to threaten that by turning their attention elsewhere. So I try to emulate what the squirrels do in that situation when they bitch at me, but it is really rare. In fact, they don't seem to think that I am a threat to their stashes at all. That might be because I almost never mess with them, though. Let the squirrels sort it out is my general motto when it comes to that sort of thing ;) So yea, cranky, ears back glare with teeth chattering: pull your head back immediately, try an eye close, if they reciprocate the eye close then try a lip smack and say something nice in a slow, low pitch. If they don't then just back off and give them the space they want.

[CritterMom]

Kristal, that may be the single most interesting post I have read in my time here. THANK YOU. I try very hard to study animal behavior and this level of detail is just great! :bowdown

[mugzeezma]

When Squirrels exhibit this behavior what exactly are they saying?

I know it is NOT good!:D

I had Nos out to clean his Cage. Put him back in it to vacuum. I let him out again afterwards. His teeth were clicking. Is it fear? I figured the vacuum frightened him.

When I noticed it, he was sitting on my shoulder! I knew I couldn't try and grab him but was quite anxious until I could get him off quickly! Threw a walnut into his Cage, and he followed!

He did this about a year ago and attacked me badly afterwards so just freaked me out some!

I need to buy new leather gloves. Would you believe a few months ago, he pulled one of my gloves into his Cage and destroyed it! Smart critter!:rotfl

Is it also due to Spring weather and that time of year????:multi

Thanks!

Chattering is agitation and not good. Nos is saying STOP MESSING WITH MY STUFF!
He killed that glove for you didn't he!
BAD glove!

[SquirrelNut]

Thank-you everyone for your input! Much appreciated!

And, Kristal....WOW!:thankyou

Nos doesn't do it too often but when he does I need to run for the hills!:D He really scares me when he acts like that but realize he is really a "wild" creature at heart!mjs

[Kristal]

Kristal, that may be the single most interesting post I have read in my time here. THANK YOU. I try very hard to study animal behavior and this level of detail is just great! :bowdown

Thanks. It comes from when I was little, and my friends were mostly animals :p. At some point I read a book about animal body language and started to try and talk to them on their terms when I was maybe 8 or 9. Knowing something about dogs and cats and horses helped me to figure out something about what the squirrels are saying, too. Animals have interesting, little societies, it turns out. I only wish that I was better at copying their vocalisations.

[fatkitty111]

OH I know that noise! Puck does it when he is mad at me for something. Usually picking him up to put him back in his cage or sweeping up his mess in there. He has never bitten me yet though....knock on wood! :tilt