Squirreling Away Sunflower Seeds for the Winter

mammals_Female Eastern Gray Squirrel in my garden eating sunflower seeds.
Female Eastern Gray Squirrel in my garden eating sunflower seeds.

This Eastern Gray Squirrel must really love sunflower seeds. I had just filled the tray with black oil sunflower seeds when she pounced on the tray. When I took these photos the squirrel was just four feet away from me.

Female Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) eating black sunflower seeds in my garden. Photo by Donna L. Long.
Female Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) eating black sunflower seeds in my garden. Photo by Donna L. Long.

She was keeping a wary eye on me as she steadily cracked seeds. She dropped the shells. She was eating so quickly, that I thought she would choke. The thought sprang into my mind on how to perform the Heimlich maneuver on a squirrel. After watching her, I decided she must be stuffing the seeds in her mouth to bury later.

Female Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) eating black sunflower seeds in my garden.
Female Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) eating black sunflower seeds in my garden. Photo by Donna L. Long.

I think this accounts for the sunflowers which spring up all over my garden. The squirrel planted sunflowers are always nicer looking than the ones that I plant.The squirrels don’t harvest any other crop besides the sunflowers. They leave all the other food crops alone.

Female Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
Female Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) eating black sunflower seeds in my garden.

The squirrels are gardens/farmers because when the sunflower heads reach a certain size, the squirrels snip off the heads and carry them away. I like to think that they harvest at the peak of ripeness.

 

You can see in this photo the squirrel is still in her tawny summer fur. Her tail is bordered with white tipped hairs. In winter the back of her ears will be covered in dark hair, her tail will be dark and she will lose the tawny/gold hairs on her body.

Tail of Female Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
Tail of Female Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) eating black sunflower seeds in my garden.


See also:
How to Attract Eastern Gray Squirrels to Your Garden or HabitatThe squirrels neighbors are quite full of personality.  White-footed mice also live in my garden. I think these are the only two mammals that live and dine there. But then I am forgetting the opossum, skunks and raccoons that drink from the water dishes at night. And the cats.

and How Animals Store Food for the Winter

What are Ground Squirrels?

A List of Autumn Photography Subjects

We're Listening

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.