I have a good bunch of squirrels I feed outside my home office... I can attest they are delightful creatures when you get to know them. They’re smart, gentle, engaging, and all have a different and developing personality.
Yes, they’re rodents, but rodents are a big family!
My family got roped into fostering some baby squirrels that had lost their nest. They're very cute, but in my experience they were very skittish and frankly their claws are too sharp to make comfortable pets. I wish it were otherwise, since I really admire them as highly capable animals.
We raised them with the intent of releasing them into "the wild" (of Burbank) and eventually did get them to be pretty much independent of us. So that worked pretty well.
If you love a squirrel, set it free.
If it comes back to you, then it is truly your duty to set it free again but in a location further away.
Me and my wife have raised 5 between us (3 together and she's had 2 on her own). They are incredible animals, and playing with a squirrel is something very special.
Groundhogs are wonderful too! I had one for 4 years before she passed away. Best pet I've ever had.
Northern flying squirrel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_flying_squirrel
Well, people keep rats. Rats have some downsides compared to squirrels: Their ugly tails, the black death, etc.
So is this why they are so wide spread and a pest? Squirrels are much rarer in Europe. Like you only see them in the forest rare and they are orange.
The black/grey squirrels here are a real problem for backyard gardeners. Like they will pretty much steal every fruit tree bare.
I have many squirrels roaming around the outside of my house but this article has definitely deterred me from keeping them as pets: https://www.vin.com/vetzinsight/default.aspx?pId=756&id=5454...