Baby rock squirrels are just about the most beautiful little creatures on god’s green earth.
Our resident mama rock squirrel surprised us in early September by moving a second litter of tiny pups into the wood pile by the kitchen. She had already brought up 6 young ones there in May and June, and here she was with 5 more. It’s normal for rock squirrels to have 2 litters a year, but we’d had no idea she was nursing new pups.
We think this mama usually has her babies in a burrow near the deck, and they spend their first month or so there before she moves them to wood pile. By the time we get to see them, they’re active, alert, and very playful – still tiny, but eating solid food and ready to start exploring.
The wood pile is a safe place for a rock squirrel family. Over the years, generations of mama squirrels have dug out a series of burrows under the pile (and, worryingly, under our diningroom), and at the first chirp of an alarm, everyone dives for a burrow or disappears into the wood stack. Gray foxes prowl around from time to time, wondering if they might be able to have rock squirrel for lunch, and we’ve seen hawks watching the babies with a hungry gleam in their eyes, so the rock squirrels are smart to be careful.
So far, we’ve been lucky, but (interfering old cow that I am) I try to discourage the little ones from roaming too far from their bolt-holes by leaving food and water for them nearby, on the diningroom steps.
One of their favorite snacks is apple. There’s always plenty to go around, but as you can see from this video, sometimes – to paraphrase our friend Chris – the best piece of apple is somebody else’s piece of apple. #texasbackyardwildlife