Kristal
05-11-2011, 06:15 AM
Rifa... is more like a cat than she is like a squirrel in a lot of ways.
A couple of days ago I took her outside to explore a bit... and she had a lot of fun. She was bounding around with joy over the neighbours balconies, zipping around in circles on my back. She has this funny zipping dance that she does when she is really happy and excited. All the while she makes little, happy grunts and coos.
There were two cats that were watching her antics with great interest. At one point a big, orange tomcat started to ascend the stairs going towards her, stalking her. Rifa did not even seem to register the cat or else wanted to go and meet him... I think that she did not consider him a threat and just wanted to walk in the grass of my neighbours yard. She actually walked TOWARDS the cat. And she could not have been more than 20 feet from him... How could she miss seeing the cat?? Anyway, I sent up an alarm and smacked the stairs to scare them apart. Fortunately it worked. I thought my heart would leap out of my chest I was so worried.
Now I am thinking about how fearless and precocious she has always been. The boys are more squirrely, though they are also friendly with me, of course. Loud noises and sudden movements and being woken up or feeling cornered scares them... but not Rifa. They also went through the normal sleepy, inactive phase as infants and then the spooky phase when they were newly active... Not my girl, she was up and exploring before she could even see, truly. She never had a spooky period as a young juvie, either.
And she trusts me so utterly and completely. Tonight I was in there changing their food bowls, and I gave them a little cuddle and a midnight almond as I sometimes do. She just stretches out and lolls around like a cat when I pet her... She loves it. Well, she always did... when she was a little juvie she used to perch on my knee while I was at the computer or watching tv, and I would stroke her, periodically, for even hours at a time. The boys have grown out of wanting to cuddle with "mom", a bit, though. Not my girl... she just yawns and stretches out to enjoy it as much as she can. She is never wary of me, "squirrely" with me, though the boys sometimes are - especially Babe is. I worry that she is so completely trusting like this.
Tonight I had a scary thought. I know that frontal lobe damage in humans can reduce fears and inhibition to the point of a complete personality change. What if the 3 story fall into my yard gave my girl brain damage? What if she is not capable of the normal squirrel wariness?
I don't know if that is true, and I have little point of reference. I know that they have their own, unique personalities almost from birth. Some humans are brave like that. Why not a squirrel? They also come from different litters. I remember her mom... She was impressively agile the way she navigated from telephone wire to post to fire escape... Well, she would have to be brave to make her home and have her family right on top of humans the way she did. Rifa is very agile, too, compared to her brothers. Maybe my worries are unfounded. Maybe she is just brave like her mom was.
Is it normal for squirrels to be like this? Has anyone had one like this make a successful transition to a wild life?
She does sometimes throw up alarms, but they are never over things that I can hear. She also is able to tell when I want her to be scared. She climbs to the top of me and perches, wary, on top of my head when I want her to be cautious... She does not seem COMPLETELY incapable of caution, but she has got to be on the far, far edge of normal for a squirrel. And again, she trusts me. Completely. I just don't think that is quite right :dono
A couple of days ago I took her outside to explore a bit... and she had a lot of fun. She was bounding around with joy over the neighbours balconies, zipping around in circles on my back. She has this funny zipping dance that she does when she is really happy and excited. All the while she makes little, happy grunts and coos.
There were two cats that were watching her antics with great interest. At one point a big, orange tomcat started to ascend the stairs going towards her, stalking her. Rifa did not even seem to register the cat or else wanted to go and meet him... I think that she did not consider him a threat and just wanted to walk in the grass of my neighbours yard. She actually walked TOWARDS the cat. And she could not have been more than 20 feet from him... How could she miss seeing the cat?? Anyway, I sent up an alarm and smacked the stairs to scare them apart. Fortunately it worked. I thought my heart would leap out of my chest I was so worried.
Now I am thinking about how fearless and precocious she has always been. The boys are more squirrely, though they are also friendly with me, of course. Loud noises and sudden movements and being woken up or feeling cornered scares them... but not Rifa. They also went through the normal sleepy, inactive phase as infants and then the spooky phase when they were newly active... Not my girl, she was up and exploring before she could even see, truly. She never had a spooky period as a young juvie, either.
And she trusts me so utterly and completely. Tonight I was in there changing their food bowls, and I gave them a little cuddle and a midnight almond as I sometimes do. She just stretches out and lolls around like a cat when I pet her... She loves it. Well, she always did... when she was a little juvie she used to perch on my knee while I was at the computer or watching tv, and I would stroke her, periodically, for even hours at a time. The boys have grown out of wanting to cuddle with "mom", a bit, though. Not my girl... she just yawns and stretches out to enjoy it as much as she can. She is never wary of me, "squirrely" with me, though the boys sometimes are - especially Babe is. I worry that she is so completely trusting like this.
Tonight I had a scary thought. I know that frontal lobe damage in humans can reduce fears and inhibition to the point of a complete personality change. What if the 3 story fall into my yard gave my girl brain damage? What if she is not capable of the normal squirrel wariness?
I don't know if that is true, and I have little point of reference. I know that they have their own, unique personalities almost from birth. Some humans are brave like that. Why not a squirrel? They also come from different litters. I remember her mom... She was impressively agile the way she navigated from telephone wire to post to fire escape... Well, she would have to be brave to make her home and have her family right on top of humans the way she did. Rifa is very agile, too, compared to her brothers. Maybe my worries are unfounded. Maybe she is just brave like her mom was.
Is it normal for squirrels to be like this? Has anyone had one like this make a successful transition to a wild life?
She does sometimes throw up alarms, but they are never over things that I can hear. She also is able to tell when I want her to be scared. She climbs to the top of me and perches, wary, on top of my head when I want her to be cautious... She does not seem COMPLETELY incapable of caution, but she has got to be on the far, far edge of normal for a squirrel. And again, she trusts me. Completely. I just don't think that is quite right :dono