Matilda the Squirrel

About a year and a half ago I started making friends with a squirrel. I would always keep some almonds in my pocket and would throw them for the squirrel to eat.

At first she wouldn’t eat them anywhere near me, but by throwing them less and less far, I finally bridged the gap and got her to eat right in front of me.

Not too long after that I could get her to eat out of my hand. She would put her little paws on my hand, take the almond, and eat it while watching me suspiciously.

Later she had some babies. I climbed up a grate to her nest and she would let me feed her babies by hand. The babies’ eyes were still closed, so this was an unbearably cute situation.

Then I left for a 7 month trip. I figured she would leave or get run over by a car or something.

But she didn’t, and she remembered me!

Now the training as progressed and we are BSFs (best squirrel friends). She follows me around like a dog, lets me pet her, and will even jump onto me and hold on to my shirt / underlying flesh. Painful but also very cute.

Here are a couple more pictures:

PS – Sorry about the light posting recently. I’ve been writing, but the quality hasn’t been great so I’ve been saving the drafts to work on later.

If anyone has suggestions for posts or questions they want me to answer in a post, send them my way.