Wild cutie waking up SUPER early.

[madeesawn]

hi,

not so much a problem as it is a curiosity..

one of my wild pals has been up and about extremely early as of late. like 6:45-7:00am. before sunrise, and its been subzero temps (f). i see him running around, looking for snacks in the usual spots and being pretty normal, except for the fact that its still dark as can be, and very chilly.

he is about 7 months old, such a tiny little guy. and lives in the nest with his mama and brother. they do not come out early like he does.

just kinda weird ? does anyone have any insight?

[Charley Chuckles]

That is weird 🤔
Guess early squirrel catches the nut 🐿️😀

[Mel1959]

The wilds in my yard are usually up when the first rays of light are in the distant sky. I’m in Florida and by 6:15-6:30 they are up roaming around in the trees or on the ground. Some of them are still in the trees running around after dusk when it’s almost dark. I’ve even had one on my screen enclosure at 8:30 at night! That was definitely weird.

[McCarthy]

Much like humans, greys come in many flavors, aka personality types.

Besides that, my observation is that older squirrels tend to be more relaxed and like to sleep in, especially when its cold / in winter time. My current house guest gets up about 2 hours after sunrise, then he will wait for food to roll in, and go back for a massive nap until around 2 PM. Rinse and repeat again around 7 PM right when it gets dark. So far he is the only one that gets up at around 11 PM for a midnight snack.


Check out this live stream. It gives you an idea what they are up to when they are in their dens. Lots of naps.

[Lighten-Up]

I have witnessed squirrels coming and going at odd hours.

I witness a lot since in the summer since I sleep outside in their world. I was 15 feet away in bed outside when I heard the sound of a baby juvenile wild squirrel on a wooden bench looking for food, where I do put seeds during the day. The sound of him awoke me at 5:10am, it was dim light, the sun had not come up. Next I heard a squeak as a cat grabbed him in his mouth and I flew out of my bed, put two shoes halfway on, I could hardly see, I wasn't awake, and I chased that cat with squirrel around the yard for 5 minutes with two shoes half on, completely out of breath I was, but the cat in the chase dropped the squirrel.

The squirrel disappeared. I couldn't find it. I prayed, and believed for this little one, because it appeared to have been an orphan, and I had been watching over it for only a few days. Three days later it came back! Alive and well. It was around for months before I finally lost track of it because it never came too close, and I had too many other squirrel friends to keep them all straight.

I have also witnessed squirrels moving through my yard at midnight and 2am, wild ones that I do not know, crossing through the trees. I know this because I am under them. I've had skunks sniff me too.

For a while, I slept in the RC where I released three pinkies. I always found it very weird that months after their release, they would not very often sleep in the RC, they had dreys elsewhere, but I was there. Sometimes they would come into the RC, waking me up at midnight. They would ask if I had a nut for them, and I would sit up, open the jar, and give them as many nuts as they wanted to eat and then they would go into the RC nestbox and sleep until morning. Just what they were doing coming "home" at 11pm, or midnight or 1am, I still don't know. I'm just ever curious and thus, out in the wild with them. Wanting to know.