Gray Squirrel Moving Day

In the summer of 2022 I was lucky enough to witness an event which for me might have been a once in a lifetime happening, but for mama California Gray Squirrel, was just the routine moving of her young from one nest to another. Maybe she does this to be closer to food or farther from predators, and she likely did another time or two that summer. It was fascinating to watch her diligent agility as she trekked from one nest to the other, over rather rough terrain, carrying one kit at a time, naked, curled up, and half hanging on, half held in mom’s mouth.

Here comes mama squirrel down from one of her nests, a very young kit in her mouth.

She moved four babies while I watched. Her quick deliberate pace was admirable as she scampered over sharp rocks, through dense brush and across fallen trees at the river’s edge.

Her route never varied, but each little one seemed to have a unique way of holding on for the ride. Did you ever wonder what a hairless squirrel tail looked like?

Here there is a slightly different strategy for carrying the kit.

Light as a feather, she makes her way over the sharp debris as she begins her route alongside the river.

Here she is just above the water’s edge, about half way to where she would start climbing up into the trees of the new neighborhood.

This log leads her to the most acrobatically demanding part of the transit, where several leaps were required to get up the steep bank and into the woods.

At the top of this branch she disappeared and for a moment I could hear rustling growing quieter as she got deeper into the trees. After a couple minutes, the rustling became louder again and down she came, retracing the same route as she headed back for another youngster.

Here she makes her back up toward the original nest….

Going straight up the trunk of the tree I believe her original nest was in.

I watched with fascination and awe at her efficiency, grace, and utter devotion to the task. She moved four little ones, and I only saw her stop for a brief rest once.