A Squirrel’s Tale

Yesterday, I had to make a quick trip into town. On my way back to work, I saw an animal sitting in the road. I could not tell what it was until I got near it. By then it had safely crossed the road. Still it took me a moment to realize what this little animal was. It was a squirrel with only a stump of a tail which resembled the tail of a rabbit.

Instantly I felt sadness for this little one. Squirrel tails are quite important. They are used for balance and communication with each other. And as I later found out, the tail is also very necessary to control body temperature. When I did research online, I discovered that losing a tail happens frequently. The picture below looks very similar to my squirrel, only my squirrel’s tail was a little fluffier.

A squirrel’s tail can pull right off if caught on a fence, or in tree branches, or even in a fight with another animal. The saddest part is that the tail does not grow back and the tiny animal has a much lower survival rate without one. I only wish I could have brought him home. He certainly was cute.

While I was researching my squirrel, I ran across another interesting squirrel tale. Five young squirrels’ tails were knotted tightly together in their nest. Momma squirrel had used plastic and long grasses in the construction of the nest and the babies’ tails got tied up in it.

The very agitated youngsters were rescued and separated. The link to their story is below.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/five-squirrel-tails-entangled-milwaukee_n_5b9fc415e4b013b0977d301f

♥️

Andi