May 8 2022


I had a squirrel in the eave of my house all winter. For the sake of his long-term well-being, I boarded over his entrance the first week of May while he was out and about.

A couple hours later, I happened to be sitting out on my sundeck facing his old entrance. Suddenly he appeared at the edge of the roof. He just sat there for minutes, motionless, staring at me with an expression of utter despair.

To buoy his spirits and to encourage him to keep on with life, I placed some nuts & seeds & raisins on the roof near his old entrance. He feasted on them.

That night, I considered opening his entrance again and letting him have the eave. But I read on the Internet that squirrels chewing on electrical wiring in an attic can cause a fire.

Then I awoke in the middle of the night and it occurred to me to make a little house for him right next to his old entrance. At 4:30 A.M. I began work on it, and finished it up by 6:30 A.M. It has a food trough at one end, and I placed a thick bed of leaves on the floor of the rest of the space. An access panel allows me to check on his food trough now and then to see if he's gathering and storing. I will supplement his store as needed.

He also made it clear that he wanted to retain access to his new house via the low route. (The roof is the high route.) His old low route wasn't working for him due to the relocated entrance, so I made a little stairway for him, which he is very happy with.

He is essentially now my pet.


Four photos and a couple 35-second videos:









Video, 32 seconds, three scenes:





New steps, with squirrel on his little deck:




Video, 37 seconds, two scenes:






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