Squirrels

You are probably wondering what this is. I came home from work one day a few weeks ago and found these critters in a low sloped area on my property around 6:30 pm. At first all I saw was something brown on the grass and figured it was a dead rat or something. I got a little closer and realized it was 4 squirrels. One was dead as you can see although I kept looking at his stomach to see if I saw some movement (you know, breathing) and nothing. Then I saw the 3 dark brown squirrels huddled down next to the dead one. The one closest to the dead squirrel had his eyes on me and the other two pretty much kept their heads down. They never ran from me which I thought was odd. Usually these rodents run when they see humans. I went inside to get my camera and they let me take pictures. There were some cars going by behind me. They never ran off. I couldn't figure out what they were doing. But I wondered if they were mourning their dead friend. Little grieving session. Went back into my house and then about an hour later, I went back out to see them and they had left. I assume they hauled off their dead friend. I would love to have seen them haul the body off.

I googled squirrels online and found one link that had comments about squirrels and their dead. One person mentioned that squirrels have wakes for their dead in the early evening in ditches. Well, it was early evening and it was in a sloped area off the road.

Here is another photo of them, a bit more up close. I have never seen dark brown squirrels before. I have only seen gray ones. And they looked young to me, not full grown adults. Maybe teens. LOL! But they were so cute. I just wish they could tell me what they were doing.

This photo is more up close, but a little blurry.

If anyone is an expert on squirrels and their behavior or you might know what they were doing, please leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you!

That's it for today. I should have a card posted next Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for stopping by.

Comments

[Cindy]

I think this is amazing Kathy!!! I read that as well about them mourning their loved ones. It makes total sense to me.

I love the dark color of your squirrels - here in NJ they are lighter in color. The squirrels here love taunting our indoor cat by strutting by the glass doors on the deck. They know Ryan's there and he's going nutzo - but they do it anyway...