I don't think it is weird. Everytime I see a squirrel I stop to watch it. If I get the chance I feed them nuts. They can get quite friendly with you if they see you with nuts. I had one running up my arm once.
I love watching animals! I'd probably spend time watching animals for hours if I had my way and I didn't have Wojciech to watch.
Some scientists study the behaviour of squirrels. The way they move their tails, they are communicating to other squirrels. They tend to space themselves out certain distances while foraging. They sleep together in their little leafy nests are curled up to keep warm.
Maybe you like to watch squirrels like Temple Grandin likes cows.
Squirrels are cute. They have this hoppy little run. I like watching different kinds of animals sometimes. Sometimes they do unexpected things.
It's a long time since I saw a squirrel but I agree. They are lovely little creatures. Lemurs are lovely too. A few years ago I stood still at a waste area outside of town when I noticed something moving in the corner of my eye. I turned my head a little and saw a fox quietly passing by a hundred yards away. Seemed it didn't see me. That was cool and unusual...
My dog likes to chase squirrels.
Tim
Sometimes I watch the ibises in the backyard, and when I was a child, I used to like watching ants.
I spent most of my life from age 18 or so to age 40 or so in and around Atlanta, Georgia. There are *lots* of trees there, and lots of squirrels, or as I would call them, Tree Rats. (after Arthur C. Clarke) They were pestilential rodents, they'd gnaw holes in yer roof. One time I saw an otherwise mild-mannered vegetarian lesbian angrily shooting an air rifle at the squirrels who had been chewing on her house.
Lucy, my kitty, used to bring me squirrels. In fact, that was how I knew when she was pregnant. She used to wake me up by jumping up on my chest and dropping a squirrel there. I'd tell her, "Good kitty, go over there and eat yer squirrel." Then I'd go back to sleep for a bit.
A few minutes later, she'd wake me up again, and drop the squirrel's liver on my chest, having eaten most of the rest of it. I'd say, "Good Kitty, eat it yerself!" and she did.
She never ate the tails, though, and always tossed them into one corner of the bedroom. I had quite a collection of squirrel tails by the time I moved out of that place.
How big were these squirrels? My cats sometimes bring wild rats in and eat them under my bed. I kind of get upset as I have pet tame rats. They eat everything but the rat's stomachs.
to nb411: Not tolerant, just *very* sleepy. I just wanted to go back to sleep. I was waiting tables for a living at the time and mentioned this to one of my cow-irkers, (co-workers) who, though a rather nelly homo kind of guy, said something like "Dang, man, you shoulda grabbed that squirrel and headed right for the kitchen; they're delicious!"
I think I told him that I wanted my sleep and the kitty needed the nutrition, she being pregnant.
Pakrat: These were average-size squirrels for Atlanta: That is, big healthy fat ones. Lots of oak trees there. On kitties being picky at their food: The retired kitty on my lap right now used to kill and eat cute little birdies, and leave the, uh, "leavings" on the front door step of our house. He would be careful not to eat the birdseed, leaving it there with the feathers and other debris. There were parts of the rats which he would not eat, but he sure loved him some Cuban Anole meat!
He did have some Theory of Mind problems with the lizards, though. He couldn't terrorize them with his standard feline rodent-hunting technique, lizards not being smart enough to understand his Mad Psychological Skillz. I had to help him with a lizard, a time or two.
Ooh, I hope you didn't encourage your cat to eat lizards.
Furry and cute. I love their little fluffy tails that stand up really perkily.
Squirrels are awesome. I also like pigeons. I always look for pigeons while waiting at the train station on my way home from college.
Yeah, the Eastern Gray Squirrels are an invasive species in many areas, including here in California. The only squirrels I see on campus are Eastern Grays, no Westerns at all. It seems that the Westerns are perfectly able of holding their own in rural/undeveloped areas because they are larger than Eastern Grays, but in suburban areas the Easterns dominate because they are not afraid of humans (whereas Westerns are quite wary of us and try to avoid us - they usually won't let you get any closer than 20 feet away from them).
It's too bad, because Eastern Gray Squirrels look like crap compared to Western Gray Squirrels. And Western Grays have much fluffier tails.
Squirrels. LOL. Those seem to be majorly common here, in Vermont. When it was late summer, when I stopped hearing some birds, I would still hear one of the squirrels! Guess I still have someone around. LOL.
Heh. Squirrels are great, I love watching them. I always wonder what they're thinking.
I'm kind of like that with all wild animals, though. I'll wander away in the middle of a conversation to follow a duck or a butterfly.
<hugs>
Athie