43471/2 South Street...........Rocky's Place
This is the view out our kitchen window. Rocky's house is in the pecan tree in the side yard. The summer Rocky was born we had a record drought and he was almost 5 months old before he ever experienced rain. I didn't want him to be on the other side of the yard when the rain arrived so I watched the weather radar and knew within minutes of when it would arrive. I was up in his tree playing with him on his front porch when it arrived. He was more confused that scared. I wanted him to understand that the house would protect him from the rain. When the skies opened up in a real Florida downpour he got the picture. I went inside to dry off and he spent the night and most of the next day in the house with his head poking out the door just watching the rain. The very first time Rockey was in the oak tree, his nesting instincts became evident. We watched as he gnawed off small branches and started building a nest. It was pretty clear that he didn't know what he was doing but he knew he had to do it. He kept bringing branches for a few minutes and then went off exploring some more. Soon after I mounted his house in the pecan tree he was hard at work bringing leaves and branches.... I mean furniture and carpet into the house. Some were so big and long that I didn't think he'd get them through the opening, but he did. He has his own ideas about interior decorating. When he was still living in our house, he would hide nuts and other food all over the cage, and just when he got things the way he wanted them, Teresa would clean out his cage. I'm sure that irritated him to no end. Squirrels don't stay in just one nest. They have several nests in different locations and use whichever one is more convenient or best suited to the weather. Squirrels actually have summer and winter homes. Rocky uses the house I built for him whenever it rains or whenever it gets real cold. Other times he stays in the conifer tree or the cedar, both have branches overlapping the pecan. Occasionally he will take his midday nap in the house and upon waking will poke his head out and give a big yawn like the MGM lion. Sometimes his eyes will get droopy and he'll drift off to sleep again with his head sticking out the door. Usually he'll come out onto the front porch and stretch a little bit before he goes back to work finding and burying nuts.
Introduction Second Week Eyes Open 7 Weeks Old 10 Weeks Old The Release Cage Free at Last The Oak The neighborhood My Own Home Six Months Old Back to Nature Viva Italia Back to Entry Page & Web Ring Navigation Back to CapmWoody Home Page |