Pregnant Squirrel

I’m spending a couple of days at my sister’s in order to do work in the garden, consequently I have to choose from among several adorable animals. So, I’m giving everyone an update on Smudge, the friendly squirrel.

I hadn’t seen her in a few weeks. This isn’t the first time this has happened. They’re wild animals, of course. The chipmunks, who are very territorial and also earth bound, are more predictable. The squirrels come and go. I understand that they’re territorial as well, but they appear to have large, overlapping ranges.

A couple of years ago, when I first started getting friendly with the squirrels, my sister pointed at Smudge and said that she thought that I was giving her too many treats because she looked fat. Well, call us naive. A few weeks later, she showed up again with a significantly smaller belly and swollen teats. Perhaps we didn’t expect it because it was late winter. However, it seems that gray squirrels typically have two litters a year, in February and June or July. Predictable, I’ve seen Smudge get a big belly twice a year until this winter when she seems to have not bred. I wondered if she was perhaps getting on in years.

Well, apparently she’s not as old as all that because she came by the other day and she seems to be big again.

Another friendly female, Spot, also is sporting a big belly. Compare the old lady to a young, trim male, and I think you can see the difference.