An unexpected encounter last month, while inspecting my Screech Owl nesting box, served as a reminder that assumptions of any kind may be wrong, especially when it comes to less-than-attentive observations of nature’s way. I had assumed the nest box to be empty since I had not noticed any activity, nor had I heard any of the whinny-like nighttime and territorial trills of this rather common cavity-nesting species of owl.
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Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) ignored last week’s icy duel between the seasons and continued full speed ahead with their spring home improvement projects. Gray squirrels don’t just survive in the midst of intense human activity and predation, they thrive thanks to their ability to adapt rapidly to changing situations while maintaining a healthy degree of wariness. It’s been that way for hundreds of years, going back to a time when gray squirrels migrated through tree tops in the vast unbroken hardwood forests of eastern North America. Gray squirrels greeted early settlers before they carved their open space niches into the landscape.
