Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first named squirrel!
There are five--five!--squirrels out in the backyard at the moment. Four of them are, so far, indistinguished.
And then there's Walky.
This was an odd one. I watched this squirrel for a couple of days before I pinned down what was nagging at my brain. Namely--this squirrel walks.
Squirrels, in my experience, primarily proceed by a series of short hops, tail undulating behind them in an almost serpentine motion. Occasionally they run, or scramble. It's only when they are on a narrow ledge or a wire that they settle to a sedate walk.
This squirrel walks everywhere. I've never seen him hop. He ambles down the path. Occasionally--and this is really odd--he falls to his belly and pushes himself along with his hind legs. I'm not sure if this is a stretching behavior gone strange, or if Walky has something wrong with his legs or his brain. He seems to climb perfectly fine, and then I can't tell him from anybody else, but on the ground...he walks. And only walks.
I can't tell if he's limping, or if this squirrel just strolls to the beat of a different drummer. I did see him holding his tail at various odd angles, which I originally was baffled by--they looked uncomfortable!--until I realized that the squirrel was using his tail as a sunshade against the uncomfortable glare. So he's not a dumb squirrel just...slow.
There are five--five!--squirrels out in the backyard at the moment. Four of them are, so far, indistinguished.
And then there's Walky.
This was an odd one. I watched this squirrel for a couple of days before I pinned down what was nagging at my brain. Namely--this squirrel walks.
Squirrels, in my experience, primarily proceed by a series of short hops, tail undulating behind them in an almost serpentine motion. Occasionally they run, or scramble. It's only when they are on a narrow ledge or a wire that they settle to a sedate walk.
This squirrel walks everywhere. I've never seen him hop. He ambles down the path. Occasionally--and this is really odd--he falls to his belly and pushes himself along with his hind legs. I'm not sure if this is a stretching behavior gone strange, or if Walky has something wrong with his legs or his brain. He seems to climb perfectly fine, and then I can't tell him from anybody else, but on the ground...he walks. And only walks.
I can't tell if he's limping, or if this squirrel just strolls to the beat of a different drummer. I did see him holding his tail at various odd angles, which I originally was baffled by--they looked uncomfortable!--until I realized that the squirrel was using his tail as a sunshade against the uncomfortable glare. So he's not a dumb squirrel just...slow.