Hello from Squirt

[canada red]

Just want you to meet Squirt, a little red from Alberta, Canada. He (we're not sure if he's a boy, hence the rather generic name so far) is the smaller of two baby reds we had hanging around our yard this summer. We first saw him in the company of Momma and Big Brother a.k.a. Loudmouth:) but both have disappeared, hopefully to new territories and not sad endings, leaving the "family estate" to Squirt. He is tiny but defends his turf ferociously, fending off the older squirrel next door.
Perhaps because my husband and I have always been there since he came down from the nest, he has become incredibly tame toward us. I realize this will likely change when he 'grows up'. Not sure of his exact age, but think he was born in April. We feed him nuts and he comes right up to us, even jumping on our feet to make sure we see him. We don't handfeed him, don't want him to lose his fear of humans, but he sure isn't afraid of US. We live in a residential neighbourhood with lots of huge spruce and pine trees, lots of squirrels, and minimal traffic. There are predators and dangers here too, but in our city neither dogs nor cats are allowed to roam freely, though once in a while a cat strolls through.
I worry about his size, as the frigid Canadian winter is fast approaching and I hope he's big and strong enough to weather it. Otherwise he seems in great health, unless someone more experienced can see warning signs. Just wanted to show him off because we love him so and hope for the best for him.

[Nemehoto]

What a cutie :D Though to be honest... I think the little guy is a little lady, but I am not one of the experts here. I am just someone raising two eastern grey squirrels (boy and a girl) that needed a foster mom badly when they fell from a tree when they were only a couple of days old. Someone will give you the advice you seek, I just wanted to wish you welcome and say the little squirrel is adorable.

[sadie7684]

Squirt look s like a she to me as well. What an beautiful squirrel! That last picture is too cute for words! :Love_Icon

[canada red]

We suspected Squirt might be a she as well, but s(he) being so young we weren't sure. Guess we have to think of a more ladylike name!

[treeman]

:wave123 Very Pretty Squirrel :wave

[Squirrelis]

:D Squirt is adorable- such a beautiful squirrel she is:D

[Nancy in New York]

My all time favorite.....the little reds. :Love_Icon
That's what my avatar is, a widdle red.
Welcome Squirt!

[canada red]

Hi, Nancy. I've read all about your Jeffrey with much laughter and many tears. These little reds are heartbreakers.:Love_Icon
They are the native squirrel in these parts. Yet to see an eastern grey though I've heard they're moving in.
Squirt says "Glad to be on TSB!"

[Nancy in New York]

Hi, Nancy. I've read all about your Jeffrey with much laughter and many tears. These little reds are heartbreakers.:Love_Icon
They are the native squirrel in these parts. Yet to see an eastern grey though I've heard they're moving in.
Squirt says "Glad to be on TSB!"

Thank you for reading about Jeffrey :Love_Icon
They are heartbreakers for sure.
So you have many little reds around?
You have to see Meemor's thread and
also take a look at The Brats thread in the
red squirrel forum.......even if you just look at
the photos.....they are awesome. One of our members
in the Yukon lives with this right in her backyard.
I've heard the reds chase off the greys, so I'm not sure you
will be seeing many if Squirt has her way....:D
Welcome, we are glad to have you!!!!
That picture of little Squirt...such perfection.:Love_Icon

[Jackie in Tampa]

:Welcome
agree with NiNY.. beautiful pic...precious sq!
no reds in Tampa...

[skippy]

Welcome Canada Red and Squirt.
They look almost like our Douglas Squirrels here in California minus the tufts of fur on the tips of their ears.
The Douglas squirrels are very territorial and the grays here give them their space. Don't be fooled by their size. They are very fast and chase the grays away. Our problem here is the Fox squirrels are taking over the gray habitat. Between the Dougies and the Foxers, the Grays are working hard to stand their ground.
Beautiful pictures of what appears to be a very healthy & smart squirrel who knows where to come when the snow gets deep and she's hungry. :)

[canada red]

Thanks for all your welcoming words!

I'm reading the Meemor and Brat threads and am blown away by the photography and storytelling!

Am seriously wondering if Brat and Squirt are distant relatives. Squirt has cleared our yard of previous owners including "Blacktail" next door, who could easily be her father. We've watched them face off like gunslingers and then take off in chases through the trees at breakneck speed.

Squirt is very smart, quick to catch on and lightning fast. She flies across the grass like a rocket with no feet if she sees Blacktail.

We have a lot of reds here, as we have a lot of conifers and a deep, well-treed river valley. In Calgary to the south of us, eastern greys have seriously eroded the reds' territories, but it took them 80 years to do it after being introduced in the 1930's :)

[canada red]

Hope everyone is managing through the storm...here out west we're thinking of you as we cope with our first snowfall. Squirt had a hard time putting her feet down in it but now is dancing right through it, so I'm going to re-name her "Nina" after an old ABBA tune, "Nina, Pretty Ballerina". She's graceful and agile...will try to post a picture soon.

[FuzzyButt]

Nina is just adorable:)

[canada red]

Our snowfall came and went, but I managed to get a few pics of Nina in the snow. She probably thinks it's all over, but little does she know what lies ahead:shakehead

[canada red]

Nina cooling her little tush while munching; Nina doing a pirouette on the tree stump; Nina up to her elbows--shoulders--after coming down from the lilac bush; Nina in her tree, perfectly camouflaged; Nina leaping, showing her tutu; and a squirrel noire pose under the tree.
Sorry, I don't know how to tag the pictures individually.

[canada red]

The pics:

[Jackie in Tampa]

Nina Needs snow gear!
she looks great, a natural!:Love_Icon

[island rehabber]

There's something about a little red in the snow.....what a beautiful girl!:crazy

[canada red]

Another snowfall, more adjustments for Nina.

Birdseed...birds are too fat anyway.
189262
Finally my own dining table.189263
Pole dancing my way down the lilac bush, tush first.
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I think I buried something here...
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Used to be mushrooms here.
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Captain Nina's chair!
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I am ze tough northern red!
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[Nancy in New York]

Awe I just want to kiss that little face.....thank you for sharing. :Love_Icon

[PennyCash]

She is gorgeous simply gorgeous... :crazy

[gs1]

:Welcome

nina is beautiful... (loved the song too :) ).

i'm so surprized that you've had snow so early... :hidechair

as long as nina has lots of good food she'll be fine... they can keep themselves warm as long as they have food/fat. ( i forget what the process is called ... i think it's a squirrel thing). As you know reds can survive up in the yukon.


squirrel diet chart ((this is mostly for pet squirrels but will help with out door ones too - mostly you've got lots more leeway ... they don't get fat and mbd is less of a problem in wilds).
http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32218



:Welcome :Welcome :Welcome

[canada red]

The snow caught us off guard, too. Last year we hardly had any.
I was a little worried about Nina because the snow came so soon but she seems to be thriving.
Thanks for the nutrition tips!:thankyou

[Nemehoto]

It's great to hear she is doing well :)

[island rehabber]

Nina is just beautiful -- and you take great pix!
Supposedly we have reds in my area but I've never seen one. I have heard them once or twice, however -- that chatter that sounds, to me, like a cross between a cicada and a power drill :rotfl.

[CritterMom]

Nina is just beautiful -- and you take great pix!
Supposedly we have reds in my area but I've never seen one. I have heard them once or twice, however -- that chatter that sounds, to me, like a cross between a cicada and a power drill :rotfl.





I discovered only after my Secret Red Population decided to show itself in order to steal and stash large amounts of the food I put out that the high pitched whistles that I had heard for YEARS out in my woods were actually little red squirrels!

I keep reading about how they get pushed out by the grays and I really don't understand this - mine sit like tiny tyrants right on top of the food pile and the grays just hang out and wait until they are through, since approaching is akin to juggling running chainsaws...I watched one run right up the face and over the head of a huge herring gull once (did you know gulls can run backwards quite rapidly?). They are just adorable but remind me of short men in positions of power...

[LindaR]

Beautiful Beautiful little baby!!!!:Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon :Love_Icon :grouphug :thumbsup :thumbsup :jump

[canada red]

Supposedly we have reds in my area but I've never seen one. I have heard them once or twice, however -- that chatter that sounds, to me, like a cross between a cicada and a power drill .

Yep. Sounds about right.


They are just adorable but remind me of short men in positions of power..

:rotfl

[canada red]

Nina has put on some weight. She seems to be coping with the cold quite well and a lot of the snow has melted, so she's zipping along nicely.:)
I love my dining room. 191607
A table with a view191608
This is why they call me a pine squirrel...these pine buds are sooo tasty.191609

[CritterMom]

She has NOT put on weight! She has gotten fluffy! Sheesh!

[Skul]

She has NOT put on weight! She has gotten fluffy! Sheesh!
A little late in the season to be fluffy.
That would be bad.
She's just plain fat. :D

[canada red]

If you mean 'fluffy' as in..err... 'frisky', she's too young for that.:nono

Her winter coat is very thick so she looks like a little puffball, but I hope that underneath it she's put on a few grams, because she's so tiny, even for a little red.

[virginia_arce2280]

She's so beautiful!
It's amazing to me how they can survive those winters up there in the wild.
Great pictures!
The wilds here won't let you get 100 ft from them. They're so used to running from cats and other predators.
Maybe we can change that now that the kitties are locked up!:D

[canada red]

Nina says, "Happy New Year, Eh?":wave123

[Nancy in New York]

Oh NIna.......glad you stopped in to say hello.
And Happy New Year to you as well, you little cutey.:Love_Icon

[Fireweed]

Oh, yay! Another Western Canadian Red! I was just passing by and noticed your username and *had* to stop in and say "hi". :wave123

Nina is adorabubble. Some really sweet photos you've snapped. :thumbsup
Do you know where her nest is?

Reds in the west look different than the Eastern Reds-- even in the summer months. They are chunkier...fluffier...bigger... like hiking boots in comparison to the red sandals of the east. :D It must be the cold temps that give them that extra je ne sais quois. :Love_Icon

I used to live in Edmonton, before that Spruce Grove, until I moved to Yukon over a decade ago. And I travelled Alberta extensively. So I know your area very well (wherever you are north of Calgary ;) ). I miss Alberta very much--it's one of the most beautiful places on earth, imo. It's time for me to take a trip home...

Happy New Year! Give Nina an extra treat for me. :poke

[canada red]

Fireweed! What a pleasure! Can't tell you how much I've enjoyed your writing and photography about Meemor, Brat and the gang! Looking forward to more...
Nina is a joy to have around, a very brave little gal. Her nest is in one of the neighbour's trees, but we don't know which one.
I crop and zoom to enlarge her in the pics. Here's a pic that shows her true size.
And whenever you're "Alberta Bound" again, stop by and say hello to Nina here in beautiful Edmonton!:wahoo

[Fireweed]

Edmontonian, eh? :highfive Expect me in your backyard for an afternoon, summer of 2014, when I go home for the family reunion. :D

Last pic: Nina and one or two of my yard buddies here could pass as twins. I swear I have that exact pic of one of mine...
The western reds also tend to be browner in colour than the easterns. So many leetle differences...

Anyhoo...More Nina pics, por favor. :tilt

[canada red]

Fabulous, we'd love that! (It's actually Nina's yard but she lets us use it):)

Long-time Edmontonians here...we tried the West Coast, it's beautiful out there but we missed the blizzards:jk

Some more pix:

[Fireweed]

(It's actually Nina's yard but she lets us use it)
Right. Of course. How could I have been so silly. :shakehead

Such a sweetie, Ms. Nina. I especially loved this pic and had to mess with it... Hope you don't mind :tilt:

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j126/whobyfireweed/nina_zps7d6d37e8.jpg

[canada red]

Aww, thank you! I love it.:thankyou

It's pear-fect!

[tomcics]

Red Squirt is a real cutester, I think she will always be somewhat tame around you as long as you are providing treats :D

[canada red]

Nina wishes everyone a happy Robbie Burns day. Here are a few pix from the last few days. After this, I'm going to post in the Red Squirrel Forum--Breed Specific.http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?p=841147#post841147
194439
I'm not much for haggis anyway
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Enough snow, I need some sun and fun
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Please feed me, I'm starving
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Thanks!
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[Garden71]

What a cutie :thumbsup