Squirrels

By any measure, the cold weather months in Missouri and Illinois have been very mild so far. Technically, it won't be winter for a few more days, but there's something about squirrel activity in Missouri that makes me wonder what they know about our upcoming winter that we don't.

I have seen this so often in Missouri, I just figured it was a big birds nest, but I was wrong. Have you seen the big ball of leaves and sticks in your Missouri trees and wondered what's going on? It's not bird's nest that you're looking at.

I don't want this to sound weird, but I am a big fan of squirrels. They are entertaining creatures that appear to have a sense of humor, too. It's true that Missouri has a very high squirrel-to-human ratio, but you should see our neighbors in Kansas.

It's the eternal question. How much snow will Missouri get this winter? Sure, you could follow forecasts from the National Weather Service and the Climate Prediction Center from NOAA. But, there's a more organic way and it has to do with squirrels. I'll explain.

A crowd was gathered at the St. Louis Zoo in Missouri this week to see the polar bear exhibit, but it was a family of squirrels that stole the show as video shows how a squirrel mom attempted to save one of her babies.

So a funny thing happened to a flying squirrel in Alton, Missouri today. Well, maybe funny isn't the right word, but we can all laugh about it now because the squirrel is going to be fine. The little critter found himself in quite a predicament stuck in a Missouri family's birdhouse.

Seeing a squirrel is no big deal. It's actually rare when you don't see a squirrel in Illinois or Missouri for that matter. One Illinois homeowner did have a rare encounter with one of these creatures you don't often see - an all-white Albino squirrel.

Everyone loves donuts and when I say "everyone" that includes creatures, too. I can prove it with a video shared by what I believe is a driver in Illinois showing a squirrel who had made off with a big ole donut and was scarfing it in a nearby tree.

Let me tell you a tale that's a teachable moment about leaving aging fruit in your yard. A Midwestern lady was surprised to see a little squirrel had discovered her pears. One problem though. The pears had fermented and the young squirrel was about to go on a very long joy ride that was all captured by a camera on her feeder.

You have likely heard a lot of stories about a woman and her son, but I can almost guarantee you haven't seen one like this one. It's a touching movie made by a man about his Illinois mother and how she raised another son that was actually an abandoned baby squirrel.