"Shiva" wrote in
news:aHlwYXRpYQ==.a3b2308abb9f0fb7554834de9a85aeaf @1062945421.cotse.net:

Now that we have had some cool weather (80s F daytime, 60s nights)
the chipmunks and squirrels and of course VOLES (grrrr) are out and
about more, and the squirrels are doing something really weird.

They dig out a little scooped place in the rose bed or at the base
of one of the big old oaks, then they leap like 3 feet up in the air
and flip when they hit the ground and flop around. They seem to take
turns doing this and wind up on their bellies with their tails sort of
laying down flat on their backs. They appear to be having a great time.

I have seen this before but it was in the spring and I attributed it
to mating behavior. But they don't mate in the fall, do they?



Yes, you may find this hard to believe but squirrels, like humans, live
in advanced societies. Noted squirrel anthropologist Stacy Nutt has
discovered that squirrels in the NW worship a diety known as
"ppullueaneankal". The behavior you are witnessing is just one of many
rituals for communing with the diety.

Another squirrel diety is named "Lroci". ppullueaneankal is usually
depicted as a large male cervine mammal with large palmate antlers, while
Lroci is usually a normal sized squirrel. Lroci is tyically depicted
wearing goggles and a leather helmet.

-- Salty

They may have been worshiping a deity, but I think it is more likely
that they were practicing for the upcoming Squirrel Olympics. The
gymnastics competition is extremely fierce. The russian squirrels,
under the guidance of Bella Traversetrees usually takes the gold, but
this year the US team is determined to beat them. While the gymnastics
competition will be tough, the US team is heavily favored in the car
darting slalom, drain pipe skeleton, and bird feeder--crack the code and
eat biathlon. Of course, its anyone's guess as to whether team mates
may be disqualified for the use of catnip or poppy seeds.

Heidi




Shiva wrote:

Now that we have had some cool weather (80s F daytime, 60s nights)
the chipmunks and squirrels and of course VOLES (grrrr) are out and
about more, and the squirrels are doing something really weird.

They dig out a little scooped place in the rose bed or at the base
of one of the big old oaks, then they leap like 3 feet up in the air
and flip when they hit the ground and flop around. They seem to take
turns doing this and wind up on their bellies with their tails sort of
laying down flat on their backs. They appear to be having a great time.

I have seen this before but it was in the spring and I attributed it
to mating behavior. But they don't mate in the fall, do they?

Watch me pull a rabbit outa my hat.......Nut-in up
m'sleeve....................."again????" yer a quick wit
Salty......................madgardener who had to use her son, St. Dharma to
decode yer answer.....................
"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
...
"Shiva" wrote in
news:aHlwYXRpYQ==.a3b2308abb9f0fb7554834de9a85aeaf @1062945421.cotse.net:

Now that we have had some cool weather (80s F daytime, 60s nights)
the chipmunks and squirrels and of course VOLES (grrrr) are out and
about more, and the squirrels are doing something really weird.

They dig out a little scooped place in the rose bed or at the base
of one of the big old oaks, then they leap like 3 feet up in the air
and flip when they hit the ground and flop around. They seem to take
turns doing this and wind up on their bellies with their tails sort of
laying down flat on their backs. They appear to be having a great time.

I have seen this before but it was in the spring and I attributed it
to mating behavior. But they don't mate in the fall, do they?



Yes, you may find this hard to believe but squirrels, like humans, live
in advanced societies. Noted squirrel anthropologist Stacy Nutt has
discovered that squirrels in the NW worship a diety known as
"ppullueaneankal". The behavior you are witnessing is just one of many
rituals for communing with the diety.

Another squirrel diety is named "Lroci". ppullueaneankal is usually
depicted as a large male cervine mammal with large palmate antlers, while
Lroci is usually a normal sized squirrel. Lroci is tyically depicted
wearing goggles and a leather helmet.

-- Salty

My wife does the same thing two or three times each summer. Usually a few
good shots from the hose will get her to stop.


Shiva wrote in message
news:aHlwYXRpYQ==.a3b2308abb9f0fb7554834de9a85aeaf @1062945421.cotse.net...
Now that we have had some cool weather (80s F daytime, 60s nights)
the chipmunks and squirrels and of course VOLES (grrrr) are out and
about more, and the squirrels are doing something really weird.

They dig out a little scooped place in the rose bed or at the base
of one of the big old oaks, then they leap like 3 feet up in the air
and flip when they hit the ground and flop around. They seem to take
turns doing this and wind up on their bellies with their tails sort of
laying down flat on their backs. They appear to be having a great time.

I have seen this before but it was in the spring and I attributed it
to mating behavior. But they don't mate in the fall, do they?

On Mon, 8 Sep 2003 01:08:18 -0400 (EDT), "Shiva"
wrote:

Heidi wrote:

They may have been worshiping a deity, but I think it is more likely
that they were practicing for the upcoming Squirrel Olympics.

Oh! Should I put out little saucers of Gatorade?

No, you should put out a couple of gators.

Maybe they'll take care of the voles as well...

On Mon, 8 Sep 2003 01:09:29 -0400 (EDT), "Shiva"
wrote:

SCOTT BRADY wrote:

My wife does the same thing two or three times each summer. Usually a few
good shots from the hose will get her to stop.

Well, good for you, but there's no way I'm hosing my squirrels. G

Honestly, people, they are doing this. None of you have seen it?
Really?

I can't remember seeing a squirrel in my neighborhood since I've moved
here.

Weird.

"Shiva" wrote in message
news:aHlwYXRpYQ==.680b037c08f8f9b5e628227bb0571980 @1062997769.cotse.net...
SCOTT BRADY wrote:

My wife does the same thing two or three times each summer. Usually a
few
good shots from the hose will get her to stop.

Well, good for you, but there's no way I'm hosing my squirrels. G

Honestly, people, they are doing this. None of you have seen it?
Really?

I saw them doing similar things this spring when they are my tulips. Maybe
they are eating a hallucinogen (or however it is spelled)

dave weil wrote:


I can't remember seeing a squirrel in my neighborhood since I've moved
here.

Weird.

From my experience with voles and Rozol, if any of your neighbors put out
any sort of rodent poison (rats can be a real problem in city
neighborhoods) the squirrels appear to think this is some sort of
delicacy and they will move mountains to get to it. (So, this is why you
may not have any squirrels.) I placed the pellets inside the vole holes,
then put heavy stones/buckets etc on top,but the squirrels worked hard and got to them. The second
time I found a big fat cute squirrel dead I had to give up the Rozol.

Paul E. Lehmann wrote:


I saw them doing similar things this spring when they are my tulips. Maybe
they are eating a hallucinogen (or however it is spelled)


Hmmm. So maybe my squirrels are tripping? After a spring and summer of
way too much rain, there are some huge mushroom patches out there and some
of those gross looking dog vomit fungi, too.

Shiva wrote:

Well, good for you, but there's no way I'm hosing my squirrels. G

Honestly, people, they are doing this. None of you have seen it?
Really?

I saw this behaviour when I was in Washington DC a few weeks ago. The
squirrels were doing this after a massive dose of chocolate. My aunt
and I were feeding two squirrels chunks of chocolate brownie.

Suqirrels in our yard don't stay there long enough to exhibit this kind
of behaviour.

Susan
shsimko at duke dot edu

On Mon, 8 Sep 2003 10:38:57 -0400 (EDT), "Shiva"
wrote:

dave weil wrote:


I can't remember seeing a squirrel in my neighborhood since I've moved
here.

Weird.

From my experience with voles and Rozol, if any of your neighbors put out
any sort of rodent poison (rats can be a real problem in city
neighborhoods) the squirrels appear to think this is some sort of
delicacy and they will move mountains to get to it. (So, this is why you
may not have any squirrels.) I placed the pellets inside the vole holes,
then put heavy stones/buckets etc on top,but the squirrels worked hard and got to them. The second
time I found a big fat cute squirrel dead I had to give up the Rozol.

I think it might be a function of the masses of stray dogs that use to
roam the neighborhood (they've mostly been rounded up, but the
squirrels haven't repopulated). It could be all of the cats as well.

We don't have many rats (never seen one around here, but that doesn't
mean that they're not here) but we have plenty of field mice and other
small rodents. Fortunately, my cat, which is mostly an outdoor cat
that I adopted, has taken care of most of them on my property.

"Madgardener" wrote in
:

Watch me pull a rabbit outa my hat.......Nut-in up
m'sleeve....................."again????" yer a quick wit

Nah, just means I watched way too many cartoons when I was a kid.

Shiva wrote:

... The second
time I found a big fat cute squirrel dead I had to give up the Rozol.

The only good tree rat is a dead tree rat.

Regards,

Charles

--
Charles Perry
Reply to:

** A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand **

"Shiva" wrote
From my experience with voles and Rozol, if any of your neighbors
put out any sort of rodent poison (rats can be a real problem in city
neighborhoods) the squirrels appear to think this is some sort of
delicacy and they will move mountains to get to it. (So, this is why you
may not have any squirrels.) I placed the pellets inside the vole holes,
then put heavy stones/buckets etc on top,but the squirrels worked hard
and got to them. The second time I found a big fat cute squirrel dead I
had to give up the Rozol.

Strange. When I lived in a rental house in Gainesville, Florida for a
year and kept my bamboos in large pots (so that I could move them onto
the land I eventually bought), the squirrels ate the new shoots. I bought
various rodent poisons. They remained untouched and I had to make wire
cages around the bamboos to have any new shoots at all to make new culms.

Your squirrels may vary.

Mark.

In article
aHlwYXRpYQ==.6435fecb45dd28969f88676b484af45e@
1063031937.cotse.net, says...
I placed the pellets inside the vole holes,
then put heavy stones/buckets etc on top,but the squirrels worked hard and got to them. The second
time I found a big fat cute squirrel dead I had to give up the Rozol.


You can probably have luck protecting your squirrels by
placing bait blocks for rats inside heavy plastic bait
stations that will secure the bait inside instead of
loose bait to be dug up. I have plenty of customers who
wish the squirrels would feed on the rat bait.
--

http://home.comcast.net/~larflu/bait.jpg

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!