So, what did you do to celebrate National Squirrel Appreciation Day this week? (I’m not kidding. Since 2001, Jan. 21 of each year has been designated as the day to think kindly of squirrels.)
My bet is that most people ignored it — if they actually knew about it. Some people, I suspect, would rather have had a “Squirrel Eradication Day.”
That’s because many homeowners consider squirrels — especially the Eastern gray squirrel — as pests. The little so-and-sos sometimes get into attics and wreak havoc on wiring and structure. They dig up bulbs and do other damage in gardens. They rob food from bird feeders and often ruin the feeders in the process.
So, why devote a day to squirrels?
For one thing, squirrels provide important ecological services. The gray squirrel (Georgia’s most common squirrel species) plays a key role in reforestation with its habit of hiding nuts and tree seeds in hundreds of locations in the fall to eat during the winter. A lot of the hidden nuts and seeds are never recovered, and they sprout, growing into new trees.
For me, squirrels also are a constant source of entertainment, as they run, scamper and jump among tree branches in amazing displays of agility.
Squirrel Appreciation Day was started by Christy Hargrove, a North Carolina wildlife rehabilitator. “Celebration of the event itself is up to the individual or group — anything from putting out extra food for the squirrels to learning something new about the species,” she said.
Georgia actually has four native squirrel species. In addition to the well-known gray squirrel, the Peach State also has the fox squirrel, found mostly in mature pine and mixed pine/hardwood forests; the Southern flying squirrel, common but seldom seen because it is nocturnal; and the red squirrel, found only at higher elevations in northeast Georgia’s Blue Ridge Mountains.
In the sky: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer: The moon will be full Saturday night — the "Cold Moon," as the Cherokee peoples called January's full moon. It's also known as the "Wolf Moon" because January was when hungry wolves howled outside American Indian villages. All of the visible planets rise in the east: Venus, about an hour before sunrise; Mars, about five hours before sunrise; Jupiter, before midnight (appears near the moon Wednesday night); and Saturn, about two hours before sunrise. By midweek, Mercury will be low in the east just before sunrise.
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