In the Summer of 2012 I became friends with a squirrel. Specifically what most folks call a Brown Squirrel but what is technically a Red Fox squirrel. And no, Red Fox squirrels do not record filthy party records or play junkmen on TV.
Every morning I’d throw unsalted, in the shell peanuts out under the bird feeder, hoping to attract blue jays. But usually the Red Squirrels as well as the Eastern Grey Squirrels would snap them up.
One afternoon, returning from work, a Red squirrel foraging with a group of his cousins saw me and came bounding up towards me, stopping perhaps 15 feet away.
When the same thing happened the next day, I asked him “Are you my friend?” figuring it to be the same one from the day before. It appeared that he recognized me as the person who threw out the peanuts every morning.
After the third of fourth day of this happening I went into the house and re-emerged with a handful of peanuts, which I tossed in his direction.
And over the next couple of weeks this squirrel became bolder and bolder until finally as soon as I’d sit down in a patio chair he’d climb my pants leg, or just hop, until he was sitting on my knee. I’d hand him a peanut which he would take and then scamper up and out onto a particular branch of a nearby maple tree. Unless it was raining, in which case he’d go to the living room window sill which was protected by an awning.
If you haven’t seen a Red Fox Squirrel up close you have no idea just how beautiful an animal they are, and this one was no exception, with two exceptions: He had a notch in one of his ears, and a dime sized patch of bare skin on his back where his fur was missing. I figured this had happened squeezing through a hole or perhaps in a fight. I decided to name him Patchy.
Other squirrels took note of our arrangement. Another Red Fox squirrel who held up a front paw as he walked, earning the name Limpy would also hop up on my knee. Unlike Patchy, who would take the peanut from me with his paws, Limpy would oh-so-gently take it from me with his mouth.
A third Red Fox Squirrel with a particularly full tail, who I named Bushy (OK, OK, I am not exactly a font of originality when it comes to naming squirrels,) was never quite as brave as the other two, coming to within perhaps three feet of me and then waiting, quivering with fear, for me to toss some peanuts down to him.
And the Grey Squirrels would notice what was going on and get in the act, but for whatever reason they never came to closer than 15 or 20 feet from me.
It got so that when I’d get up in the morning I’d look through the window and see Patchy waiting for me. I never did determine how early he arrived on the patio, but he was always there. I’d walk out with a bowl of peanuts, sit down, and we’d go through our ritual over and over. Eventually there was a pile of peanut shells under the branch where he liked to dine.
One day as Patchy sat on my knee I was horrified to see that the dime sized patch of bare skin on his back was now larger than a quarter. What’s more, the skin was all pebbly and bubbly looking.
A search of the web confirmed my suspicion. He had mange, an infestation of parasitic mites. And I also learned from a friend of a paste given to animals called Ivermectin. It was used as a horse de-wormer, but also by owners of Guinea Pigs, Gerbils, and other small animals to treat mange. A pea-sized piece of the Ivermectin paste administered every other day for a week or so apparently did the trick.
I called the last remaining feed store in my suburban area but no, they didn’t carry the paste. A call to a feed store about sixty miles away, in an area that was still truly rural, also was for naught, although they said they could order it for me.
I called around to local veterinary practices. None would sell me Ivermectin. One offered to treat Patchy if I could bring him in, but how could I ever manage to do that?
I was finally able to purchase a small tube of Ivermectin paste from Amazon, who shipped it out to me within a couple of days.
The following morning I unshelled a peanut, squeezed a small dab of the paste on each “nut,” put them on a saucer and went outside, where Patchy was waiting for me. I sat down in my usual spot and set the saucer down in front of me. Sure enough, Patchy scarfed them up.
I repeated this off and on over the next 9 or 10 days. And in very little time the bare skin became smooth again, and then began to shrink in size, until eventually it was completely healed over with his luxuriant fur.
If it hadn’t been for two things….his intelligence and his courage….I never could have treated him. If I put out some Ivermectin treated peanuts there would be no way to keep other squirrels from eating them, were it not for the fact that every morning he’d be waiting for me on the patio. Because he had deduced that I was “The Guy With The Peanuts.” And his bravery allowed me to set the treated peanuts right in front of me, knowing that he wouldn’t hesitate to come up to where they awaited him.
My friendship with Patchy lasted perhaps six or eight months until one day, like Little Jackie Paper, Patchy came no more.
Not long afterwards, I saw the body of a Red Squirrel, flattened by a car, not far from the house. I had no way of knowing if it was Patchy or not, but I can tell you that it, along with many, many other issues, particularly the impending loss of the family homestead, triggered a mental health crisis in me.
One morning, perhaps two or three months later, I was sitting on the patio when a beautiful Red Fox Squirrel came hopping up towards me, stopping perhaps 20 feet away. On a hunch I went inside and came back out with some peanuts. Upon seeing this the squirrel immediately hopped up to my feet. I looked at his ear. It was notched.
He was no longer brave enough to hop up on my knee, but when I threw a peanut down to him he immediately climbed up to his favorite branch in the maple tree. It was Patchy. It was the last time I saw him.
As brave as he was I was never able to make a video record of me feeding him. The mere appearance of my phone or my camera would spook him. But one Winter day, when there was a “Wintry Mix” coming down, I was able to capture him through the picture window as he sat on the other side enjoying his feast.
EDIT: Thank-you all so much for your wonderful response. When I posted this I seriously expected it to disappear with perhaps a half dozen comments. I believe it is now my most recommended diary in the 18 years I’ve been a DK member (although not the most commented upon.)
And the YouTube video has been viewed, as of now, 1,400 times! Wow.
I never realized there are so many people who are nuts for squirrels!