Squirrels

Me and my squirrels.

This was the first time the squirrels took food directly from my hand when on the ground.

Before I had fed one squirrel by hand in a tree.

They are getting more and more confident and relaxed around me each time.

Do you have American gray squirrels? I've heard that they're invasive in Britain. It is said – but I don't know how true it is – that at the time the invasive European white people came to the New World, a gray squirrel could journey from the Mississippi River all the way to the Atlantic coast in the forest canopy and never have to come to the ground. (Except maybe to bury acorns and have a drink.)

These squirrels are descendents of breeding pairs released in Bournemouth in the 1920s.

They are classed as invasive and have pushed the native reds out of a lot of areas including Southampton.

Now areas with red squirrels are conservation areas.

I think our greys are descended from American squirrels but I'm not 100% sure.

Those are the ones I'm feeding and if they look familiar they probably are American greys.

They look just like the grays in the local park and in my yard.

A few months ago, when sitting in the backgarden I heard a thump, as if someone had thrown a stone over the fence.

It was in fact a very small bird, scurrying about on the ground, under the Bay tree.

It turns out he was a fledgling robin who has made a nest in the tree, and regards this garden, and those surrounding, as his territory.

We've been feeding him, and talking to him, and he's been getting more daring, coming closer each time.

I'll post some photos next week.

Your squirrels look pretty healthy, and they look like my neighborhood squirrels with slightly shorter tails. They get in my yard and torture my dog, she runs around the trees and the squirrels have fun climbing and avoiding her.

I'm away from home at the moment. Using a phone to Post. Driving back tomorrow.