Happy Eating, Mama Squirrel!

   Today, I watched as a very pregnant gray squirrel ate from the seeds that I put out for the birds.  Two thoughts went through my head.  The first was more about a ridiculous statement from the owner of the feed store where Mark bought the sunflower seeds.  The lady told him that "Squirrels won't eat shelled sunflower seeds!"   Either she is delusional or has weird squirrels.  I don't know about her squirrels but Bayou Squirrels eat just about anything they can find and shelled sunflower seeds makes them happier than a mouse in a cheese factory.  In fact, the squirrel left behind the table scraps of fruit and nuts and went straight for the sunflower seeds.  Methinks the feed store owner just wanted to make a sale for the more expensive type of seeds.

  Second thought was geared to the squirrel herself.  Since squirrels usually have their first litter of the season in February or March, this one was close to delivering.  My heart went out to the poor little lady.  Since we are in the midst of some pretty winter-like weather, she has to be fretful about her little ones being born in the midst of an ice storm.  While the female squirrel can make a pretty snug nest, it does leak at times.  Water gets between the twigs and freezes making the whole thing like one big ice cube!  Mama Squirrel will will often go days without eating or leaving the nest just to protect her babes.  The whole load of rearing the young falls upon her.  Nest-building, birthing, feeding and protecting, the mother squirrel does everything.  All the while, the jerk of a male does nothing but go around eating up her stashed food supply and will actually kill the young of competitor males.  Sad to say, I always cheer for the red-tailed hawk when it decides to go after a male squirrel.  Today, my heart went out to Little Mama so I literally made the offer for her to eat as much as she wanted and I would continue to put out more seeds for her.