A Squirrel Takes Over The Owl Box
Sunday, March 30, 2025
A squirrel invaded our owl box in early January. When we didn’t see the owl for a few days at the end of December, we wondered if he had left the box for a few days, as is normal screech owl behavior. And then a squirrel popped its little head out of the box opening. For us, this was a disaster. I tried to convince myself that the screech owl in the neighbors’ box down the street wasn’t “our” owl, the same owl who has been guarding the box religiously for years, but the truth was now staring me in the face – the screech owl had been displaced. The owl and his mate had not produced a clutch in our box for how many years? Two? Three? We were ready for new tenants, perhaps a younger pair of owls to raise a clutch of owlets, but first, the squirrel needed to be evicted.
We monitored the owl box carefully, trying to keep the squirrel out by blocking the entrance with a tree saw during the day. After sunset, the saw was removed to allow any screech owls searching territory to find the nest box empty, and we hoped an inviting place to raise a clutch. But on February 2, I checked the owl box camera and the squirrel had given birth to kits; five tiny, hairless, squirming beings clinging to their mother’s belly. We should have guessed it would happen.
We bought a trap thinking we would trap the squirrel and release her somewhere else, but it would be cruel to take her away from the kits and no screech owl would want to move in now anyway. I resigned myself to enjoy watching the squirrel kits grow up – they are cute; no one can deny it. And baby squirrels are better than staring at an empty owl box.
For weeks I’ve watched the mother squirrel curled up in the owl box underneath a pile of leaves and grass and other material she dragged into the nest. The kits were hidden underneath her, but occasionally a tiny movement could be detected. The mound that is the nest heaved up and down as the kits breathed and moved. Gradually, they grew. Fuzzy brown gray coats covered their bodies. Every once in a while a tail or an arm with tiny claws stretched out. They crawled around more, pawing at each other and their mother. At five weeks their eyes opened and they began to explore the box. Dinner time was a battle to find the best spot on their mother’s belly.
The kits are about eight weeks old now. Mother squirrel leaves the nest for short periods, visiting the sunflower seed feeder where she hangs upside down nibbling on seed, or she goes to the edge of the pond for a drink. On sunny afternoons, she lies on the perch of the box, her tail draped inside. At night she feeds and cares for her young who crawl all over her. One kit licks her face, maybe soliciting a feeding. She pushes it away with a paw. At 10 to 12 weeks, the kits will leave the nest, and at three months they will be able to live on their own.
Sunday, April 6, 2025
Yesterday morning, there were only two squirrel kits in the nest box. Overnight, the mother squirrel moved three of her young out of the nest. Mother squirrels usually have more than one nest site and will move their kits when they are weaned, about 6-8 weeks, so this mother was right on schedule.
The nest seems so empty now. The two youngsters left behind wrestle and fight to poke their heads out of the entrance. They are anxious to leave now, climbing the walls and even the box ceiling, watching for their mother who returns periodically to nurse them and groom them. Soon they will be gone too. I check the ground below the box and beneath the oak trees, making sure there were no casualties during the move. I have to say I will miss watching them, much as we resented the takeover of our owl box. At three months old, the squirrel kits will be able to manage on their own. Maybe we’ll see one of them in our yard again.
– Christine Baleshta
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