Dear Stan,
What kind of squirrel are you and how many different kinds of Squirrels are there in the USA? Do you have a wife and family and where do you live? You are very brave to run about in the daylight. Over here, all our little furry animals only come out at night so we hardly ever get to see them!
Curious from Australia.

Stan Responds:

G'day Mate,
Unlike the majority of little furry animals in Australia, Squirrels are not nocturnal and are quite happy running around in daylight. Most Squirrels are exhibitionists and do not mind showing off their superior balance and tree climbing abilities to hapless humans.
There are many different types of Squirrels in the USA and Canada. Chipmunks, also known as Ground Squirrels, are a type of Squirrel too. See my front page to read about me and my kind. You have inspired me to start the Squirrels for Australia campaign so that you may enjoy Squirrels in the suburbs too!

Tragic Lovers

Dear Stan,
A number of years ago we had two mated albino squirrels in my parents' neighborhood. They were treated, naturally, like royalty by all in the area. One spring, however, neither ever made an appearance again. General consensus was, someone wanted the pair to add to his collection of stuffed animals.
Do paired squirrels often die of natural causes at the same time?
Just wondering in Green Bay.

Stan Responds:

It is unusual for a Squirrel to pair for life. Some particularly virile males will maintain up to seven nests. It is possible that this pair formed a bond early in life because of their differences and the inevitable taunting from their peers. This story is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Although it is possible that they simply moved, the most probable explanation is that the killer automobile has claimed two more victims.

Can Cats and Squirrels Co-exist?

Dear Stan,
I think you may have it wrong about cats and squirrels being enemies.
There's one squirrel in the neighborhood who seems to be trying to communicate with my cats by tapping on the window and the cats seem to be chuckling at some of his comments. What can you tell us about squirrel Morse code?
Curious in Massachusetts

Stan Responds:

It is a well known fact that the introduced cat and indigenous animal populations do not get along. In Australia, domestic and feral cats are responsible for the extinction of many cute, cuddly and defenseless animals. Cats kill for pleasure, not because they are hungry, putting them in same category as pickup driving, gun toting humans.
I agree that your neighborhood squirrel is trying to communicate with your cats, but not in the manner that you assume. This clever squirrel is no doubt 'flipping the bird' to your cats, and I'm sure that if your little darlings ever got their paws on him, he'd be a bloody carcass delivered to your doorstep as a gift.

Squirrel Secrets

Dear Stan,
I find your page of squirrel facts informative and enlightening, which brings up a question I've had on my mind for quite a few years. How is it that squirrels can race across telephone wires without the use of a long pole for balance? I've never seen a squirrel fall or even lose his footing momentarily. Amazing!
Thanks for any help,
A squirrel watcher in Dallas

Stan Responds:

Howdy Pardner,
For the first time ever, I will reveal the secret to Squirrel balance. It's the tail. Like a human uses the long pole to walk the tightrope, so a Squirrel uses the tail. Why humans gave up their tails I will never understand, it serves so many purposes. From the male Squirrel's point of view, an impressive tail can mean all the 'tail' (nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more) that you can handle.
My advice to humans who aspire to our grace and poise, get a tail.

We've got the Blues

Dear Stan,
I followed a link and now I've got to tell you what I think...
I'm Stan the squirrels brother Ray (Ray Charles Squirrel, actually. You know, the famous blind squirrel that sometimes gets a nut). I think the way you're exploiting my family is shameful. It was all I could do not to pull out my nut gun and start blasting away when I saw my brother starving on the side of that tree...
Seriously, great site! I'm impressed. Can I be a Gates too?
Ray Charles Squirrel

Stan Responds:

Well my friend, you must be from the side of the family that we never talk about. However, you do address an important issue. Let me stress that all Squirrel models appearing at thegates.com are over 6 months old, and were well rewarded for their work.
This leads me on to how long Squirrels live. Squirrels have lived in captivity for 15 years, but unfortunately in the 'wild' our lifespan is more like 1 year. Cats, cars and hawks account for most of us. Cat owners, lock up your cats!

This is in fine print because usually it says something about how all the images and text are copyright, but in our case they're not so feel free to take what you like. This page was created by thegates.com.
email gates@thegates.com
May 1999 - www.thegates.com