Friday, March 11, 2011

Nature Study: Squirrels!

We have an abundance of Northern Gray Squirrels. A whole bunch! And they're feeding antics are QUITE interesting! So, this week's nature study focused on our backyard SQUIRRELS.
Squirrel Eating Seeds and Nuts from the Ground
6 of our Regular Squirrel Visitors
Gray Squirrel Tidbits
  • they weigh approximately 16-18 ounces and are 12-21 inches in length 
  • their gray bushy tails are "bordered" by white
  • their daily movements are within 200 yards
  • females have 1-2 litters each year with 2-3 young born in each litter
  • each squirrel may bury up to 1000 nuts a year
  • they are primarily herbivores
  • they may live up to 6 years in the wild
  • they prefer to live in woodland
    Look-out Squirrel
    Climbing down the Tree

    Jumping to the Ground
    Eating Food from the Feeder
    During the week we noticed one of our larger squirrels had a missing tail! S/he has a 2-3" stump so the kids have affectionately called it "Stumpy". We talked about how important a squirrel's tail is to its survival - balance, agility, warmth, protection - and wonder how it'll continue to thrive.

    And had a few QUICK glances of our fleeting, timid little red squirrel.
    Red Squirrel
    Red Squirrel Sharing a Feast with a Blue Jay
    We also observed a flock of MALE Dark-eyed Juncos, 7-8 Blue Jays, a few Black-capped Chickadees and Tufted Titmice, and our lone male Northern Cardinal. We were happy to see our beautiful Cardinal again! And a new species: a Red-wing Blackbird! We're VERY excited to see this bird as he's a migrator and a sure sign of Spring!
    Our Books for this Study
    J's Notebook Page
    C's Notebook Page
    S's Notebook Page
    Special Snack for our Friends - it Took 30 Seconds to be Found
    Check out other nature studies (and Science fun) at The Outdoor Hour Challenge, Winter Wednesday, Nature Connections, and Science Sunday! Click the sidebar buttons!



    13 comments:

    1. 6 squirrels...we thought we had a lot with three! Love the photo with the squirrel and the jay eating together. :)

      Lovely notebook pages and you learned so much to record this time! Thank you so much for sharing your nature study with the OHC.

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    2. How fun! That is a great idea for a nature study. We have a ton of squirrels out right now too, not at our house though, but at the front of our neighborhood where there are tons of trees. I don't know what our squirrels are though, we are in the south. Hmmm, I may steal your nature study idea! ;o) Thanks for the post!

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    3. Your family captured some wonderful photos of squirrels! Very cute! What's in the squirrel's snack? Bananas, apples, and almonds? I'd like to make some for our squirrels!

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    4. Great idea! You do have a lot of squirrels and I'm sorry to see all that snow still on the ground! ;) The squirrel snack is a great idea, too. Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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    5. Love the squirrel snack! Because just this afternoon I saw one of our resident gray squirrels sneak away with the suet treat we'd just put out for the birds. Arg! So, I sure enjoyed seeing your variety of squirrels. Gives me a better appreciation for them :) Lovely notebook pages.

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    6. You took some great photos!!! I love nature studies, they can be so fun! Great job!

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    7. Your photos are wonderful. I love to watch squirrels, they always look like they are having so much fun. Hopefully we'll get to our squirrel study this week.

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    8. Great study! Squirrels are a lot of fun to watch, but we have yet to do an "official" nature study on them. Your journal pages look great!

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    9. I love that shot of the squirrel with the blue jay! Little friends. :)

      And thanks for stopping by my blog!

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    10. I absolutely love the notebook pages. Such thought went into them. I bet they never forget it.

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    11. Great pictures! All of our squirrels seem to be in hiding for the winter.

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    12. What a fun nature study! We don't get squirrels in our backyard, but I'm hoping to get our backyard set up as a wildlife sanctuary eventually, so maybe one day... Thanks for stopping by my blog, it's always nice to "meet" other bloggers!

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    13. I did not know squirrels weighed so little.

      Those are great pictures.

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