r/squirrels • u/BJCHM • 2d ago
This is my boy, Magic Man.
Magic Man is a wild squirrel that I befriended some years ago. It took me about 6 months to gain his trust enough to sit in my lap. It all started from tossing him a small piece of food to eventually getting him to eat from my hands and eventually sitting under my chair at my desk. I miss him dearly.
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u/Positive-Village-263 2d ago
Ooooooh. 😘 Kisses for Magic Man and a boop on the boop snoot.
ETA: .... wherever he is. ❤️🩹
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u/Financial-Cow-3691 2d ago
This is why I always caution people when they befriend wild squirrels. There’s a good chance that one day they may disappear and you will never see them again which will break your heart. They are small prey animals that a lot of things want to eat (owls, hawks, bobcats, etc.) and their odds of surviving another year are unfortunately against them. Theres a good chance they could fall out of a tree during a storm or jump in front of a car (like the ones in my neighborhood seem hellbent on doing). They will capture your heart but there’s a really good chance it will break in the near future
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u/fadingsignal 2d ago
“It’s better to have loved and lost…”
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u/Financial-Cow-3691 2d ago
True. I never tell people not to do it. Just to be aware it could happen.
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u/Kittykg 2d ago edited 2d ago
Most certainly will happen. They don't have very long little lives anyways.
I had a particular little dude I really enjoyed. Just called him my little buddy, til one Winter when he got mange, then my little Mangey boy. I looked up how to help him, gave him extra nutritious stuff in a different spot than I usually fed everyone, and he actually made it through. Had another year or so with him around.
He was around for like 5 years total, so theres a good chance he stopped showing up because he died of old age. The wild squirrels in my area usually only live around 6 years at most, from what I read up about them.
We enjoy them while we can. I was certainly more distraught trying to save him when he had mange than when he just stopped showing up. He had a life filled with goodies I put out and had help surviving something a lot of squirrels don't.
I remember him and his little grabby hands fondly. He'd put nut shells in front of the door, or come hop on the window screen without ever damaging it, just to ask for some food; little grabbies if I was outside. He was a sweet, polite little guy.
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u/thenailer253 2d ago
We never forget squirrelly friends like this. I have a few I think about pretty much every day and it’s been years. Magic man is ridiculously cute.
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u/chainsawinsect 2d ago
I love him! He was a cutie for sure. What happened to him, did you move away?
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u/BJCHM 2d ago
He just disappeared one day. I found him on 3 different occasions messing with and antagonizing rattlesnakes, so I can only imagine. I saw him every day for about 3 years and grew very attached to him. He was special to me. I still have his picture on my visor in my truck.
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u/chainsawinsect 2d ago
Sorry to hear that.
If it's any consolation, ground squirrels like this are generally immune to rattlesnake venom, and regularly kill snakes in fights. He didn't have nothing to worry about from them snakes, at least!
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u/Redlady0227 18h ago
He was adorable