Squirrels & Sparrows & Seeds, Oh My! – Part 1

It’s that time of year once again to bring out those feeders and watch the playful antics of the woodland creatures.  The longer I observe their habits the more amazed I am at the level of intelligence they display.  Our awesome Creator has built into them a keen awareness of their surroundings and survival skills. Squirrels make loud sounds to ward of predators and this also serves to get the warning out to other wildlife and alert them to possible danger.

Over the past couple of years I’ve noticed that nothing can trigger this warning cry from the squirrel more so than the notorious cat! (No offense all you cat lovers out there!) In our household we reside with a kitty too, but she stays inside and is quite content looking at the birds from behind closed doors. ) The squirrels that readily visit our area are The Eastern Grey Squirrels.

A word of caution, if you begin to take on the habit of feeding squirrels, you need to keep a close eye on your property to assure that there are no open areas where squirrels can enter. I have noticed this is something to watch out for in the spring and early summer months during mating season.

Squirrels are very curious about humans and can sense if you are a threat. I heard the loud distress call this afternoon.  It was so loud I couldn’t concentrate on my work!  I promptly opened the door and looked over the railing to see if there were any cats in sight. To my surprise, he (Mr. Squirrel) looked at *me* looking to the ground and not at him, maybe sensing that I was checking for cats! He then proceeded to scamper along the limb of our tree right over to me. Now I, by no means make a habit of talking to squirrels but my first reaction was to tell this little fella they were no cats in the vicinity and to hold tight, that I would grab him some field corn.  He jumped into the feeder and waited for me to bring him some lunch! The sparrows flocked to the birdfeeder at the very same time but we will reserve their story for Part 2.

If you are your children would like to learn more about squirrels,  Homeschoolshare.com has some of THE best learning and lesson plans on squirrels entitled
“Squirrels and Their Habitats”, A Multi Book Unit – Prepared by Wendie and Ami.

Below is a partial list of resources prepared for this unit;

• Squirrel Story-Starter Writing Page  (color / black and white)
• Squirrel Notebooking Pages
• Squirrel Mini-book
• Squirrel Chart*
• Squirrel Classification Accordion Book
• Even More……………

If you enjoyed this article, please leave a comment.  If you have a similar squirrel story I would like to read yours too!

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Tags: backyard garden, homeschool, lesson plans, squirrels