Hello from Alaska

[AlaskanSquirrelNeighbor]

My wife and I live off grid in Alaska and have for about seven years now. We have a ton of squirrel neighbors. Generations of them now. They daily come into the cabin and sit on the couch and eat almonds and mama's often bring their youngsters over in the Spring. They have different personalities, some let us pet them, most let us rub their bellies and in return we pull dozens of ticks off them. We're not in the interior so the ticks are unlikely to carry tularemia, we did send a dozen or so to the State to have tested and they didn't have it.

Anyway, we found this forum because one of the new squirrels has an eye issue so we figured we'd share that in case somebody had some knowledge to pass on that might be helpful. I'm sure we'll have other squirrel news to share in the future.

Thanks for the add to the forum. Cheers.

[AlaskanSquirrelNeighbor]

[supersquirrelgirl]

My wife and I live off grid in Alaska and have for about seven years now. We have a ton of squirrel neighbors. Generations of them now. They daily come into the cabin and sit on the couch and eat almonds and mama's often bring their youngsters over in the Spring. They have different personalities, some let us pet them, most let us rub their bellies and in return we pull dozens of ticks off them. We're not in the interior so the ticks are unlikely to carry tularemia, we did send a dozen or so to the State to have tested and they didn't have it.

Anyway, we found this forum because one of the new squirrels has an eye issue so we figured we'd share that in case somebody had some knowledge to pass on that might be helpful. I'm sure we'll have other squirrel news to share in the future.

Thanks for the add to the forum. Cheers.

Welcome to TSB. All those squirrels coming inside and hanging out sounds so cool! I'm moving to Alaska!!

Mr.SSG

[Diggie's Friend]

Welcome to "The Squirrel Board", you've come to the right place for all things related to tree squirrels.

[AlaskanSquirrelNeighbor]

Thanks, glad to find this resource. We love our squirrels. They're neighbors to us. They have personalities and they're truly Alaskan. By which I mean, they work long hours and they're preppers. We've seen them running around with mushrooms they harvest after a rain and they put them up in the tree to let the sun dehydrate them. They have serious work ethic. They put us to shame.

Welcome to TSB. All those squirrels coming inside and hanging out sounds so cool! I'm moving to Alaska!!

Mr.SSG

You should enjoy it, it's a very neat place if you haven't been here before. Can be tough at times, especially in the winter when the hours of darkness can get to you. If you're moving to a place outside the city and off grid the learning curve can be steep and tough but it's worth it. Be ready for the fact that lots of things want to unlive you here from the cold to the moose and bears to the earthquakes to the mudflats and wildfires. Throw in chainsaws and firewood and things can get sporty. And everything is way more expensive and harder to get shipped here.

The squirrels definitely run the place. Throughout the day we usually leave the door cracked for them to come in. They have their own tree in the center of the cabin with a bucket of almonds. We brush them from time to time and give them scratches and many of them come to enjoy it. Some of them keep it purely transactional grabbing a nut and dashing. Before winter we sometimes cut up little bits of cloth for them for their nests as insulation and they run off with it although we have learned they prefer dried ferns for their stuffing.

[AlaskanSquirrelNeighbor]

[supersquirrelgirl]

Hello, I'm in California where earthquakes and wildfire are normal daily living. We have big fox squirrels who come everyday and sit next to us to chatter while eating. Some approach the back door and come pretty close to coming in but pull back. Never been to Alaska but fly over it many many times on our way to Japan.

Alaska is a dream vacation. I love mountain climbing, hiking, and camping. We love skiing and the cold winters. BUT, I'm a city slicker and would not survive 1 minute off-grid in the country side of Alaska. Gotta hand it to you! Temping but no thanks!

Enjoy TSB as we are here to help.

Love ya man, Mr.SSG