If you trap a squirrel on a ledge...He'll jump man!

Today, while Linds and I were doing dishes, we spotted a handful of squirrels scurrying about in the crab apple tree behind our house. It was funny watching them grab onto limbs that couldn't support their weight while still managing to hang on.

It occurred to me that the tree they were in left them somewhat vulnerable. This particular tree stands all by itself in the backyard and there are no other surrounding trees to which the squirrels could make an escape. Naturally, I wondered how the squirrels would respond if I ran outside and frantically circled the base of the tree like a wild animal.

So, I quietly snuck out through the back door of our house and then, seeing as I had caught the squirrels unawares, I sprang into action and made several wild circles around the base of the tree while waving my arms frantically above my head.

The squirrels scurried to the very top branch of the tree where they clung to that tiny branch, all 4 or 5 of them, and remained as still as could be. Linds and I stood outside and watched them for a few minutes and had a good laugh as apparently our neighbor was outside and took notice of my strange behavior.

Suddenly, to our utter amazement, one of the squirrels dove from the very top of this tree straight down to the ground! Surprisingly it avoided serious injury such that it was able to run off into another yard and up a tree. A few minutes later this squirrel’s buddies did the exact same thing. I was shocked! First, that the squirrels determined that jumping 30ft from the top of a tree to the ground was their best option. Second, that they weren’t incapacitated from the fall.

Interesting isn't it.