Squirrel Tussle

This morning I was looking out my front window to check on  feeder. I got more than I bargained for.

    Two squirrels were chasing each other around and around the trunk of a large green ash. They continued this torrid pace for at least two minutes. I was expecting them to quit from exhaustion. I found out that they had a very high level of fitness.

    Now my interest in watching the chase was to see how it ended. Was there going to be  big squirrel dust up? Was one squirrel going to escape? Would it end up in a draw?

    Well it ended in a draw. One squirrel ran into the upper branches and the other squirrel did not pursue. 
   
     Red squirrels are very territorial. Usually they just chatter at one another. You hear the chattering going on and again you wonder when they will be out of breath. 

     So the territorial squirrels can get very physical in claiming their territory.

     I wish these characters would chase each other far away. They are a nuisance at my bird feeders.

    How about you? Have you seen squirrel fights? How do you control squirrels at you bird feeders?
    

Photo by Angella Maclean

     

Two Magpies Chase a Red Squirrel

     I noticed two magpies flipping around my green ash tree this morning. Then I noticed what all the flipping was about. They were chasing a squirrel.


    The magpies had a plan. They kept the squirrel in between them. The squirrel would run down the tree to find one magpie at the bottom. The squirrel quickly moved to the opposite side of the tree so the tree was between him and the magpie. As the magpie moved to go around the tree the squirrel ran up the tree until it met the magpie who was guarding the top of the tree. All of this took place in the first 3 meters of the tree. 


    I was surprised that the squirrel seemed to be wanting to leave the tree and run on the ground. Finally, the squirrel did leave the tree and I thought he would be a goner. However, the one magpie flew just behind the squirrel and didn't seem able the hit the squirrel from above. The squirrel ran under a fence and it was game over as the magpie had to fly over the fence and by that time the squirrel had disappeared. 


     I noticed one of the magpies sitting on the fence with it's mouth wide open so the squirrel gave them a good run for their money.


    I have never seen or heard about such a conflict. Magpies are usually satisfied with something much easier.