June 4/14

I may soon be a pseudo-adoptive squirrel gramma.

This morning, Purrball was so agitated, and until I got up and went to the windows in the living room, I had no idea why.  Our apartment faces into a secluded inner courtyard, and there's not much out there, so we didn't plan on seeing much wildlife.  Well, it turns out that there is a large, black squirrel who decided to drop by.  Of course Purrball was agitated!  She wanted the squirrel!

Eventually, I scared the squirrel off by opening the door, and I thought nothing of it...until this evening, when I noticed Purrball was agitated again, and I saw that the squirrel was not only back, but had brought a small pile of leaves, and was dozing on the pile.  I was thought perhaps because the squirrel wasn't moving that it had died.  I tapped on the glass, and it moved its head.  Okay, alive, but maybe injured?  Etienne and I fretted about the possibility of removing an injured squirrel, but we opened the door, and slowly, the squirrel moved, crawling onto the mesh screen.  Then it let off a huge yawn, and I thought, "Oh you cheeky little bugger, you think you're nesting here?"

Off the little critter went once Etienne shooed it.  He did a bit of quick googling, and we quickly learned that this squirrel is most likely a pregnant female, as they like to seek quiet, protective areas such as balconies to birth and raise their kits.  So, yeah, let's just assume that we're dealing with a pregnant squirrel.  But if this is what's actually happening, that means there's likely an imminent birth, followed by what could be four weeks or more of nesting until the kits are strong enough to leave with Mum. 

We don't have a balcony, it's really just a small ledge protected by glass in front of the door, so it's indeed quite a snug little spot; but we're not encouraging her to stay, as we'd prefer she didn't birth here.  It's not an ideal place, given that the caretaker and his family lives right below, and they have a young son who may scare the mum away from the nest.  The squirrel doesn't seem phased by seeing Purrball, so that's not going to be a solution.  It's dark now, so we're not going to be able to see if there's a black squirrel out there.

I'm too young to be a pseudo-adoptive squirrel gramma.

Wildlife...

...Wish you were here.