Squirrel Appreciation Day

Journalist Rocky the Squirrel here –

“Keeping my paws on the nuts of the world!”

Today, January 21st, is a great and wonderful day my fellow friends.  It is Squirrel Appreciation Day.  I can tell you – today is *my* day.  Today, you should appreciate us tree climbing, entertaining, nut gathering neighborhood squirrels.  Being a squirrel can be hard.  Some of us give others a bad name.  They are the ones that eat food out of the feeders, eat some veggies in your gardens and chase/tease your pooches.  Then there are squirrels like me who are highly educated, have families to take care of and bring your enjoyment and education.  Focus on us great squirrels for the day.  Heck, give us some nuts, a little hand out, or wave at us from time to time.

In case you were wondering: Squirrel Appreciation Day was created by wildlife rehabilitator Christy Hargrove of Asheville, North Carolina

There are more than 300 species of squirrel. Different types of squirrels range in size from five inches (the African pygmy squirrel) to three feet (Indian giant squirrel). The word “squirrel” comes from the Greek word skiouros, which means shadow-tailed.

When hiding its food, a squirrel goes through an elaborate process of masking the location by pretending to bury the item a few times before settling on a final spot. While red squirrels are known for vigorously defending their territories, some females turn over all or part of their holdings, including a critical food cache, to their offspring as a way of bolstering the pups’ chances of survival during the difficult first year of life.

So upon this holiday, please reflect a few minutes on us and throw us some extra feed.

Thank you very much. This public announcement had been brought to you by Journalist Rocky the Squirrel. Thank you for your time.