Squirmish

Observer: Estella Yee
Date: 10-02
Location: South of Belknap’s front entrance, oak tree immediately southeast of the bridge
Times: 944-1000
Weather: 61˚F, a few raindrops here and there, overcast skies

Squirrels have altered from sweet docile rodents into vicious wild creatures fighting for means of survival. All around campus, I can see few squirrels cooperating to increase their hoard of nuts and food for winter. It’s curious how that notion never seems to cross their minds. Most squirrels were all for themselves, except for a family I found early this morning near the botanical gardens. Two scrub jays were shrieking loudly, attracting my attention to the oak tree. The tree itself had a few yellow leaves higher up. One network of slender branches pointing south was completely bared of leaves. The bark had light furrows and was tinted a dark brown. The base of the trunk was approximately 7.5 feet in diameter (1.5 arm spans). While I was nervously hugging the tree, I noticed I had barely avoided crushing a honeybee. It seemed immobile, yet after a while, it started crawling over the bark methodically. Both scrub jays remained along the south side of the tree, calling out to each other. Suddenly, they flew off in a hurry toward the southwest across the parking lot toward a willow tree. Two grey squirrels were the culprits, who had sneaked behind them and chased them off. It seemed like an odd behavior until I finally managed to see the large clod of dried leaves, signifying a nest. It’s possible that the two mates stripped the leaves off of the southern branches to make a home for their young. The squirrels then started to make a barking noise, not unlike the one I heard in the botanical gardens a month ago. They seem to desire to descend the trunk, but since I stood there, they felt slightly threatened and remained in the tree. I heard a junco start singing nearby at about 1000, a series of three higher notes followed by three lower, aspirated notes.