Hey, Joe.
Have you ever watched Meerkat Manor? I just saw something that reminded me of when one gang would chase after another, and it happened right here in my own front yard.
Uncle Paul was in the garage doing stuff, and he heard the neighbors screaming and raising a ruckus. they must have been screaming about the rat or field mouse that decided to duck into the garage for safety. Uncle Paul called Callie to see if she’d chase it out, but she isn’t a mouser. (I miss Buck, the former neighbor’s cat. He was a good mouser.) She had nothing to do with the rat.
So he called me to help–as if. The only good mouse is one being fed to a snake. It was a big one, too. He found it, chased it around the garage, and then it ran out under my car. It took off across the street, and I heard the squirrels going bonkers. Then I watched at about a dozen or so squirrels took off after the rat–meerkat style. I suppose rats pose a risk to the baby squirrels.
It’s so dry right now, I’m not surprised that the rat was trying to get close to the neighbor’s house. They are washing their cars again. (Uh, we’re under voluntary conservation, but since they don’t read the newspaper, they wouldn’t know that.) Also, the field is being torn up for houses, so the rats & mice are losing their habitat.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that the squirrels have different warning sounds for different dangers. The cat danger, which we heard often when Buck was around, is a sort of high-pictched tweek-twwweee. The up-in-the-air warning, for a hawk or such, I’ve heard only once. It is very different. But this warning was more of a squeek, much like you’d actually hear from a rat.
Really, it was something to see all those squirrels give chase. Just goes to show that they have more in common with other animals like meerkats than we realized, and they have a complex form of communication.
I like your story Aunt Sharon. I wish we had more time to spend with you on your visit but I’m glad you went with us to the Nature Center. I wish it had been in the spring or fall.
Joe Kirkham-
President;
Kari Kirkham-
Vice President;
Matt Kirkham-
Director of Operations;
Betsy Lewis-
Designer;
Bob Smith-
Adviser
Animal Facts
Wild Wild World (Parragon Publishing -- 2001) tells us that some people think that there are undiscovered primates, like the abominable snowman or the yeti.
Joe Bites 
Jul 03, 2011 @ 18:04:33
Hey, Joe.
Have you ever watched Meerkat Manor? I just saw something that reminded me of when one gang would chase after another, and it happened right here in my own front yard.
Uncle Paul was in the garage doing stuff, and he heard the neighbors screaming and raising a ruckus. they must have been screaming about the rat or field mouse that decided to duck into the garage for safety. Uncle Paul called Callie to see if she’d chase it out, but she isn’t a mouser. (I miss Buck, the former neighbor’s cat. He was a good mouser.) She had nothing to do with the rat.
So he called me to help–as if. The only good mouse is one being fed to a snake. It was a big one, too. He found it, chased it around the garage, and then it ran out under my car. It took off across the street, and I heard the squirrels going bonkers. Then I watched at about a dozen or so squirrels took off after the rat–meerkat style. I suppose rats pose a risk to the baby squirrels.
It’s so dry right now, I’m not surprised that the rat was trying to get close to the neighbor’s house. They are washing their cars again. (Uh, we’re under voluntary conservation, but since they don’t read the newspaper, they wouldn’t know that.) Also, the field is being torn up for houses, so the rats & mice are losing their habitat.
Over the years, I’ve noticed that the squirrels have different warning sounds for different dangers. The cat danger, which we heard often when Buck was around, is a sort of high-pictched tweek-twwweee. The up-in-the-air warning, for a hawk or such, I’ve heard only once. It is very different. But this warning was more of a squeek, much like you’d actually hear from a rat.
Really, it was something to see all those squirrels give chase. Just goes to show that they have more in common with other animals like meerkats than we realized, and they have a complex form of communication.
–Aunt Sharon
Jul 22, 2011 @ 22:20:28
I like your story Aunt Sharon. I wish we had more time to spend with you on your visit but I’m glad you went with us to the Nature Center. I wish it had been in the spring or fall.