I tend to think of nests as belonging to birds, but they are not the only creatures who build them. I was reminded of that fact the other day when I saw a squirrel disappear into its nest. I hadn’t known that squirrels build nests. Live and learn!
I stopped to take a look at the squirrel’s home, which I have since learned is called a drey. This particular drey was about halfway up a big old holly tree. It looked like a big wad of leaves had somehow gotten stuck in the branches of the tree, yet there was clearly a design to the mass of foliage as the squirrel was able to go inside it.
I found a few great links on this topic, which I hope you will have time to check out. The first is a two-and-a-half-minute video from BBC Earth, which shows a mother squirrel building her drey and then it shows baby squirrels inside their home! It’s fabulous! The second link is to a New York Times piece on how squirrels build their nests. The third is an article from my hometown paper, The Washington Post, for even more about squirrels’ dreys. Enjoy!
XOXO,
Bernice
Capital Giraffe - adventures of a washingtonian 
4 responses to “In Which I Learn a Little Something New”
Hi, Bernice. How interesting about squirrels and the nests they build for their new born. Enjoyed the links you provided. Those squirrels are really hard working and the babies are so sweet. Thinking about birds and squirrels and nests made me daydream about what type of nest a baby giraffe would need if we decided to put baby giraffes in such contraptions for safe keeping. I pulled out my laptop and punched in giraffe nests. There was a picture (I assume made up) of a baby giraffe in a large nest (photo by Freakingnews.com). Moreover, there is a Giraffe’s Nest tree house experience in South Africa at the Motswari Private Game Reserve. Move over squirrels, here we giraffes come (at least in our imagination!).
By the way, my groquet hat was too small, but the shop owner promised me a new larger one in the next two weeks.
Love,
Dad
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Hi Dad! Thank you for the comment 🙂
I think I would prefer to keep my feet on the ground. Nests are all well and good for the creatures of the world who enjoy flying and climbing, but I can do neither. But a giraffe can dream, it’s true 🙂
I’ll look forward to seeing your new, bigger hat soon, Dad! I love you.
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A dear friend sent me the link to this great article and I thought I would share it here. If you have the time, check it out!
XOXO,
Bernice
When Squirrels Were One of America’s Most Popular Pets
Benjamin Franklin even wrote an ode to a fallen one.
by Natalie Zarrelli
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pet-squirrel-crazehttps://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pet-squirrel-craze
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Squirrels as pets? Wow. The link in the above comment is such fun!
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