Witnessing a squirrel freak-out
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As I left work and headed to my car today, I heard some weird animal sounds. I’m not sure how to describe it; it was kind of a mix of chirping and screeching, going back and forth between long shrieks and short grunts. It got louder as I walked towards my car. I saw some birds near my car, and they flew away, but the sounds were still there. Watching the birds fly off, my eyes went to a nearby telephone pole. A squirrel was clinging on, facing the ground. It would twitch every time a screech occurred, so apparently it was the source of the noise.
Imagine hearing that on repeat like 300 times. Isn’t that bizarre? I didn’t even know squirrels made noise! I thought they spent their entire lives being all ninja-like. The squirrel wouldn’t move, stuck there screaming nonstop. I was about to go home, but the sound was freaky, so I went to investigate. There’s a small dirt hill for plants separating the parking lot and the fence the telephone pole is next to. I walked over the hill, eyes on the squirrel, and I saw at the corner of my eye a bushy tailed cat bounce away from the base of the telephone pole. It ran off to go hide underneath a car. I guess the squirrel was feeling threatened by the cat. The squirrel was still freaking out, so I went to check out the cat.
That cat wasn’t very happy to see me. The squirrel was still screaming, so I went to go check it out again. This time, it decided to acknowledge my presence, shut up, and ran up the pole. As it turns out, the squirrel wasn’t alone on the pole. Upon closer inspection there was second, quieter squirrel hanging out above the first squirrel.
They pretty much just stuck to their hangout up on the telephone pole, and the cat disappeared from underneath the car, so not much else to see. With my curiosity satiated, I went home.
New thing I learned today: That squirrels make freaky noises. More specifically, they screech and flick their tail as signs of aggression at predators and to warn other squirrels.
As I left work and headed to my car today, I heard some weird animal sounds. I’m not sure how to describe it; it was kind of a mix of chirping and screeching, going back and forth between long shrieks and short grunts. It got louder as I walked towards my car. I saw some birds near my car, and they flew away, but the sounds were still there. Watching the birds fly off, my eyes went to a nearby telephone pole. A squirrel was clinging on, facing the ground. It would twitch every time a screech occurred, so apparently it was the source of the noise.
Imagine hearing that on repeat like 300 times. Isn’t that bizarre? I didn’t even know squirrels made noise! I thought they spent their entire lives being all ninja-like. The squirrel wouldn’t move, stuck there screaming nonstop. I was about to go home, but the sound was freaky, so I went to investigate. There’s a small dirt hill for plants separating the parking lot and the fence the telephone pole is next to. I walked over the hill, eyes on the squirrel, and I saw at the corner of my eye a bushy tailed cat bounce away from the base of the telephone pole. It ran off to go hide underneath a car. I guess the squirrel was feeling threatened by the cat. The squirrel was still freaking out, so I went to check out the cat.
That cat wasn’t very happy to see me. The squirrel was still screaming, so I went to go check it out again. This time, it decided to acknowledge my presence, shut up, and ran up the pole. As it turns out, the squirrel wasn’t alone on the pole. Upon closer inspection there was second, quieter squirrel hanging out above the first squirrel.
They pretty much just stuck to their hangout up on the telephone pole, and the cat disappeared from underneath the car, so not much else to see. With my curiosity satiated, I went home.
New thing I learned today: That squirrels make freaky noises. More specifically, they screech and flick their tail as signs of aggression at predators and to warn other squirrels.
