Friday, October 5, 2007

Give a Squirrel a Twirl

Squirrels are adorable. They've got it all--bushy tails, cute button noses, not carniverous (the cat's main downfall) and a bounce to their step.

I want to adopt one.

How hard can they be to domesticate? All I have to do is collect a mini-mountain of nuts in my back garden and they'll be my willing slaves. I'm walking to and from work through Phoenix Park these days--it won't take me long.

According to the videos I've found they make great pets--Check them out.......
(they can even be taught to water-ski--a lucrative side-liner for me if Dublin Zoo will let me set up outside their front door)

Squirrels - how have we lived for so long without them?

5 comments:

Belinsky_11 said...

You do realise Ms Bones that Squirrels are a type of rat? And that they carry rabies and have been known to carry diseases including the bubonic plague in some countries?

I'd stick to cats if I were you...

Ms Dobbyn said...

But they're SO cute!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

you know what the BEST thing about squirrels is though? The word 'squirrel' said by a Scottish person. I'm serious. Have Marc do it and you'll see. It's hilarious!

Unknown said...

I found this article and figured you would appreciate it!

Snakey smells help squirrels stay safe
Thu Dec 20, 11:02 AM ET

It's scary being a little, tasty squirrel, but some species of the rodents have come up with an intimidating camouflage -- snake smells.

California ground squirrels and rock squirrels chew up rattlesnake skin and smear it on their fur to mask their scent, a team at the University of California Davis reported.

"They're turning the tables on the snake," Donald Owings, a professor of psychology who helped lead the research, said in a statement.

Barbara Clucas, a graduate student in animal behavior, watched ground squirrels and rock squirrels chewing up pieces of skin shed by snakes and then licking their fur.

The scent probably helps to mask the squirrel's own scent, especially when the animals are asleep in their burrows, they wrote in the journal Animal Behavior.

(Reporting by Maggie Fox: Editing by Julie Steenhuysen and David Wiessler)

Dancing Girl said...

Squirrel's are pretty funky...I know someone who's mother has adopted several squirrels. They live in a shoe box in the house and roam around to their hearts content...but are nasty biters. Ever see the Squirrels in the park's in London? They are so tame, and actually pose for photographs...so cute