So our uber-quick pit pups have nabbed a few squirrels who didn’t escape up a tree fast enough. We started our own pet semetary last summer to give dog-murdered squirrels and birds a dignified burial (I sincerely hope they don’t go all Stephen King on us and rise from the grave!)
But there’s something rather odd happening . . . At the base of our ginormous oak tree, which is five-six stories tall, I’ve found several dead squirrels. They don’t have doggy fang marks on them and the pups seem surprised when they find them (as in, they didn’t murder Rocky and stash his body under the tree for later chewing). Do I have exceptionally clumsy squirrels who are falling to their deaths? Are these rodent suicides?
I’ve been scouting the death zone before letting the dogs out so I can dispose of any carcasses. I have wondered if some evil person in the 'hood is poisoning squirrels and they’re coming to my tree to die.
I don’t want to be too alarmist but maybe the squirrels succumbed to some sort of disease. You may want to alert your local animal control department and keep your dogs away from them as a precaution.
We had what we thought was bird suicides in our wooded lot…come to find out a feral cat was a serial killer…he didn’t eat them but, would hide them in our yard. It looked like they just landed and died. Mr. Wrecker set up a game camera…we watched Kitty Cat Bundy…bring 3 birds and deposit them under tree. He came back a couple of times and sniffed around them but…never ate them…freaky!!
Good idea. I think poison might be in play here so the OP should make sure the dogs don’t try to eat any dead squirrels. As the good Doctor noted above, squirrels can survive falls from pretty high up, although young ones are more fragile.
I was going to second the suggestion reporting the squirrels to a local authority but I just readthis page, a Q&A with a wildlife extension, and it suggests that if the dead squirrels look otherwise healthy there’s probably not a disease and they got in to something they shouldn’t have. Wouldn’t hurt to report to your local Dept of Natural Resources but they will probably just take a note and say thanks.
Further warning that some people poison dogs intentionally – and pitties are especially on some haters’ radar. It’s theoretically possible poison thrown over the fence meant for the dogs was scarfed up by squirrels. Do police the yard with a sharp eye.
And now an anecdote:
I was walking down my driveway one day when suddenly, about 10 feet away and just to my left, there was a blur followed quickly by a “Thump!”. A squirrel had fallen from one of the tall pines and hit the bare ground. From how far (s)he had fallen I have no idea. The squirrel hit, bounced about a foot high, hit again, popped up, looked at me with eyes that clearly said “I did that on purpose. Laugh or tell anybody differently and the next two nuts stuffed in my cheeks will be yours!” then scampered back up into the treetops.
I am not laughing as I type this. I suggest that you don’t either. Squirrels have eyes and ears everywhere.
I’m thinking of a BC cartoon some time ago where over several panels he’s watching an ant walk up a tree trunk and onto a limb higher than his head before it falls to the ground and keeps walking. “It’s amazing how ants can fall such enormous distances and survive,” he muses.
Close up of the ant all bent and twisted, saying, “Sure hope I make it to the graveyard before I die.”