This is a very timely video on Facebook bearing in mind the current heatwave and extreme temperatures in Europe. It shows a squirrel literally begging for water from passing tourists. The conditions must have been very difficult for the squirrel. I’m sure that a drought had been affecting the country for quite a long time. I suspect this may be Italy, specifically the north of Italy, where there has been a very long drought perhaps exacerbated or created by global warming. What is remarkable is that we see the squirrel using his brains to find water. Perhaps he has become habituated to tourists over the years and learned to ask them for food and in this instance water.
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Posted by لاوه ديكورات on Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Note: This is an embedded video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source or the video is turned into a link which would stop it working here. I have no control over this.
Both the squirrel and the pigeon are often maligned as nuisance animals. You often see them together surviving successfully. The pigeon is a pretty smart bird which is believed to be self-aware. And the squirrel, on my reckoning, is pretty intelligent too and they express this intelligence in their survival skills. They can be quite pushy as can pigeons and birds of the corvid family e.g., jackdaws. Because squirrels are good survivors they can be “in the face” of humans which can irritate them, which in turn can lead to animal cruelty. They say that squirrels damage trees but although I’ve seen some damage to my trees it is not enough to cause me concern.
It seems to me that humans don’t like animals which are successful in survival as are humans. They become irritating but there is no better ‘animal’ than the human in terms of how to survive. We don’t like to be challenged in the survival stakes by other animals such as the humble squirrel.
Below are some more articles on squirrels.
Ukrainian soldier shows compassion in sharing his field ration with a squirrel
Squirrel goes nuts, attacks 18 people, and is put down by the RSPCA
Why do squirrels eat Christmas lights?
Michael Heseltine, former Deputy Prime Minister, had 400 squirrels shot on his estate
Squirrel evades pine marten with stamina and skill
