Back when I last changed my header photo two seasons ago, my friend Bill of Evil Squirrel’s Nest shouted that he saw one up a tree.
A squirrel’s nest, that is.
In a tree. In a photograph. In my blog header.
Anyway, that’s obviously stuck in my head because walking Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle this week — before the snow fell — I noticed clumps of home-sweet-squirrel-home skyward in several trees in the neighbors’ yards surrounding our house in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood.
This being Saturday, ESN’s day to post photos of his favorite squirrels, I figured I’d share my shots of where I think they’ll be living because Ellie B and I have so far kept them out of our back porch rafters they so dearly covet.
Getting ready for winter.
Neighbor’s peak.
HIgh wire act.
All three of these nests are within a football field of our house.
I think the squirrels have been busy building their winter hideaways. They are all bigger than a basketball. Fit a family of four, comfortably? What do you think, ESN?
Have you noticed these big, twiggy nests around your neighborhood? Have you ever had to chase squirrels out of a porch or shed in the winter time after they’ve nested there, and if so, what did you use to deter them from returning? What’s your favorite type of nut to eat, and do you prefer to purchase them shelled or in the shell, and why?
Mark Bialczak 
Strangely enough, we have not had squirrels in the house. Mice, but no squirrels. Maybe the bats and wasps in the attic deter them. (I hate bats – typing the word makes me cringe.)
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I hate bats, too, Cat. Not as much as skunks. But yes, bats are bad.
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I really have to start looking up more! Gotta get my nose outta a book…!
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At least look up when you’re out and about Christy! Inside, a book’s OK for your nose, you know!
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Sometimes my Grandma would get squirrels in her attic or down her chimney when I was growing up in her house. I noticed when I lived in NY, the squirrels there are darker and larger than down here. Here they are light grey and small. I assume that has something to do with the cold weather? When I was a kid, we had a pecan tree. Those were always fun to pick and eat. And my grandfather worked each summer in Georgia supervising a peanut operative and when he’d come home, he’d bring several large paper bags filled with peanuts that we’d freeze and roast all year. But being from the south, I have to say, BOILED peanuts are the best! (Yes, I said boiled.) 🙂 I love your squirrel nest photos! 😀
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The squirrels here are huge. That’s why the nests are like mini-mansions, Rachel. I like peanuts in the shell. Salted. I like dry roasted. I like crunchy peanut butter. 🙂
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YUM!
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My dad used to ask us “are all girls squirrelly or are just squirrelly people girls?” 🙂 Just an aside.
I do see these little squirrel condos every where! And I am a nut for pistachios!!!!
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They are good builders, Colleen. And these days, your dad would be taking his life in his hands with a comment like that! Pistachios are grand. Love ’em.
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Dad took risks saying that to us anyway! Though we were pretty small when he said it to us. Just to get us all riled up. 🙂
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I am surprised how many people did not know that squirrels built nests! I’ll chalk it up to our culture’s general fascination with the bird, and hatred of the poor squirrel. Thanks for helping to educate the public!
I love looking up this time of year and seeing all of the squirrels nests appear. You know all those critters gotta be crashing somewhere, and there aren’t enough trees with hollowed out portions to accommodate them all… especially given their tendency to live alone except when it gets really cold. Why they choose to build so high, though… I guess they’re like George Jefferson movin’ on up!
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Yes, Bill, the height of their cozy homes is interesting to me, too. Maybe it makes them feel safer from ground intruders. There are many dogs, gophers, skunk, raccoons, you name it. I do enjoy walking Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle and attempting to spy one of the squirrels actually entering or leaving one of the nests!
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It makes them much easier pickings for a avian predator… oh well, circle of life!
If I can remember it for 7 days, I think I’ll dedicate next Saturday’s post as a follow up to this. Most people know squirrels are busy in Fall collecting nuts, but they are just as busy in the Spring building nests (as well as… um… other things critters do in the Spring!). I was hoping I had used the pictures I got this past Spring with my decent camera, but I haven’t yet. I did do this post on nest building with much lower quality pictures (Not to mention, they were shot through a closed window):
http://evilsquirrelsnest.com/2013/05/04/never-stop-improving/
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I’ll be watching for your take on the nests. They’re really important at this tiime of the year, obviously, with all the snow and cold.
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I live in the country now, but I guess I’m still a city girl at heart. Who knew squirrels built tree nests? Not me. I’m not sure I ever thought about where the little buggers live… maybe I figured they were like otters, building dams? I’m not that great with the Animal Kingdom (as if you haven’t noticed!). 😀
I like squirrels though. They are feisty little critters. And besides, I used to watch Rocket J. Squirrel on the old Bullwinkle Show.
Showing my age now, huh? (grin)
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We get more squirrels every year in Syracuse. And we’re a city! I don’t know why, but they are spreading like wildfire. I guess I’ll have to ask Rocky and Bullwinkle. Yeah, OUR age, Kate. 🙂
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Every day, about 4:30, there is a little squirrel that runs full tilt up the tree closest to my window. He disappears a few seconds and then tears down the tree and across the yard. Winter deposits, im guessing. He certainly has great time management skills, he never wastes a minute.
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Wow. Great planner. We could take cues from that little fellow for the winter to come, Apple Pie. 🙂
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I have a squirrel family that lives in a hole inside of a big tree near my house. The hole that they go in and out of looks to me about the size of a golf ball but somehow those fat, very healthy squirrels can just squirrel their way right in there every time.
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The squirrels are like elastic gumby creatures. Superhero-worthy. How do they do that, Cheney? !!
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Magic. Though I think mice can do that, too. Squeeze in to places that aren’t scientifically big enough.
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Yes, indeed. Squirrels are outdoor mouses. Mice. Rodents. 🙂
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I grew up in rural heck, surrounded by trees. I think I stopped seeing these long ago!
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As they say in the movies, Jeanette, Theeey’re baaaaack! 😮
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Son of a gun if I didn’t learn something today. Well, the interwebs say it’s legit; there’s even a B&B called Squirrel’s Nest in Iowa. I can’t say as I’ve ever seen a squirrel in our entire subdivision, but then again, all the trees are new, not much fun for a squirrel. When we were in Myrtle Beach during the summer, we stayed on a plantation with oaks and spanish moss, and the the squirrels ran around in circles up and down the trunks, chasing after each other like they were hyped up on Red Bull.
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There are so many squirrels around here, Kerbey, it’s amazing to see them taunt the dog.
When I was able to get them out of the porch, the nests like the ones pictured that I pulled out of rafters were so big that each of them filled up a large Hefty garbage bag. We had a dozen of the suckers wintering on our porch. They’d go out to forage in the daytime and come in there to sleep at night. Scared the hell out of me when I went out and they got angry.
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Surely you have been in situations where you have heard a phrase and thought, “That would be a good name for a band.” In this case, Taunt the Dog wins my vote.
Evidently critters like your estate.
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Yes on both counts. Great band name and critters feel at home here. 🙂
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This is a first, Mark. I always thought squirrels lived in trees, snug in those inviting, little hidey-holes. 😉
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I think their numbers got too large and they had to become more industrious, Judy.
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Is this a pre-April Fools Day post? Squirrel nests? Crazy!
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Not a prank, WAWW. Of course, I may be wrong in my observation.
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We have the fluffy little guys all over the place here. We have a metric booty-ton (an official measurement, of course!) of oak trees in our yard and tons of squirrels to go with them. I even managed to get a very blurry picture of a mama squirrel carrying a baby in her mouth while scurrying across the yard. 🙂 In the Spring, they run and frolic on our roof, but, so far, they’ve all stayed outside. Enjoy your squirrel watching!
P.S. – Walnuts are really where it’s at, in my opinion. Already shelled…because I’m kind of lazy. 😉 Pecans are also lovely.
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Our Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle chases them out of the yard, but they know how to pose just out of her leap, Nerdy. We had one silver maple that was a booty-ton all its own, I think. I called it the biggest tree in Eastwood. It had a double trunk coming from a crook quite low, two feet up, and that baby swayed badly every big wind. It was so tall it could have crushed not only ours but any of five other houses depending on which way it went. The tree expert told me it would only double in height if he trimmed it and recommended it had outlived our space. That’s when the squirrels moved to these other trees in my photos … and when they could no longer get in our covered porch because Ellie B was on duty.
I’ll go with Brazil nuts, around the holiday time only. They are a chore to crack, but in the shell is best. 🙂
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Thank you, very much, for this squirrelly post, Mark. Something I don’t want to leave up in the air: it was exactly a year ago, today, that you first discovered my blog and posted a comment there. That’s a very important anniversary for me. Here’s to many more shared and new discoveries along the blogging way.
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Wow, Ann. Our one-year anniversary. Happy bloggiversary to us! I’m glad I clicked when my Reader offered your place on my suggested blogs list on the right side. WordPress sure did something right there. Yes, I hope for many more moments of delightful reading and conversations on both sides of the fence, my great and special friend. 🙂 Thank you for noting the significance of this date.
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Whoa. Those are squirrel nests ? I’ve seen them before and tgought they were birds nests(although I’ve never seen a bird come or go). Man, are they ever high in the trees this year – holy moly, it would take some kind of drift to get that high. I’ll send you a picture by e-mail of a local squirrel ready to battle winter 🙂
Neat post and pics Mark
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I think these are squirrel’s nests because they look exactly like the one in my header photo that Bill pointed out to me, and like the ones the furries built in our porch rafters the winter we were between dogs and the squirrels chewed throught the screens and made themselves at home. And as you said, Paul, I’ve yet to see a bird up there, either. Yes, I’ll look for your local squirrel photo. Thanks.
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