Pet Squirrel loyally thwarts burglary of his Idaho home

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Barbara
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Pet Squirrel loyally thwarts burglary of his Idaho home

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in Meridian, Idaho, a quickly growing affluent community near the state's capital, Boise :

"A pet squirrel named Joey prevented a burglary attempt in Idaho last week by scratching the teen suspect when he tried to break into a gun safe, police said.

The unidentified teenager told officers that the squirrel's attack "scared him, obviously, because he wasn't expecting to have, you know, a squirrel come flying out of nowhere at him,"

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said Officer Ashley Turner of the police department in Meridian, a Boise suburb. "So basically he said he took what he could and left as fast as he could."

The squirrel's owner, Adam Pearl, said Joey has lived in his house for about six months after he was found in a flower garden by a friend's daughter when he was about a week old.

He said Joey's eyes were still closed, and they set an alarm to feed him every two hours.

"His temperament is kind of like a cat," Pearl said. "When he wants attention, he'll run up to you and climb up your leg."

Joey eats nuts and greens, and spinach is his favorite. He buries some of the nuts in houseplants inside Pearl's house and uses a litterbox.

"He trained himself," Pearl said.

...Pearl had planned to release Joey into his backyard in the spring.

"But now, I don't know," he said. "I'm kind of torn."

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/nati ... rylink=cpy

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Maria
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Re: Pet Squirrel loyally thwarts burglary of his Idaho home

Post by Maria »

Squirrels are quite territorial. Whenever we get too close to their nests, they threaten us. Yes, they have jumped on us. And they do bite.

We have had to remove at least four squirrel nests this past autumn before the rains came. In the previous years, we removed at least three others. These squirrel nests are huge. And the squirrels can be bigger than domesticated cats. Their nests are carefully constructed of tree branches, brambles, and leaves that are placed at least six feet high in trees. The dimensions will surprise you, as they are four to ten feet high and six to ten feet wide. In locating a tree squirrel nest, look for very dark patches where the sun cannot filter through the leaves. Just after a rain, the smell will also guide you.

Squirrels will grab branches, twigs, and leaves from the ground to use for their nests, which they upgrade yearly, but they will also chew off branches that they can weave into their nests to provide strength against high winds. Thus, there is considerable tree damage done in constructing these nests. Tree rats will nest in the lower canopies of these nests after the squirrels have vacated this area and have moved to a higher loft. The main problem is that the squirrels use the lower canopies as litter boxes, and when it rains, it stinks mightily. One can smell a squirrel nest from 20 feet away. Ugh!

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.

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Barbara
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Re: Pet Squirrel loyally thwarts burglary of his Idaho home

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I had NO IDEA of any of this ! Thanks for informing us, Maria. I must admit, I am not usually a fan of squirrels, either, for they used to get into my fruit trees every year and eat only the seed and throw away the rest ! The entire crop was often destroyed this way.

There is not much one can do to catch them, either. Just some contraptions with some alternate food for them to lure them away. That is mostly my experience with squirrels.

You have had a REAL attack or two from them, referring back to the caption in the article above.

How did you manage to get the nests out of your trees ? With a long pole ? A professional tree climber with spikes on his boots to climb the tree trunk ?

Is it just in your area that they grow to be so large ? I am greatly surprised at their size and the dimensions of their nests. Not to mention that odoriferous quality of them.

Well, at least one GOOD squirrel stepped up to the plate to repel an invader at a critical moment.

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