Saw a Fairydiddle today

WV Sawmiller · October 27, 2020, 03:41:17 PM

On the way back from the feed store a little while ago my wife and I saw a Fairydiddle run out in the road, stop turn around and run over to a farmer's storage shed. it is the first one I have seen in many years here in WV. Around here a Fairydiddle is the common name for a pine squirrel. I see chipmunks, fox squirrels and gray (Cat) squirrels almost every day but this is the first Fairydiddle I have seen in 15-20 years. Pretty neat to see there are still a few around. My wife had her camera but the FD ducked under and around the shed before she could get a picture of him.

sprucebunny · October 27, 2020, 03:56:05 PM

American red squirrel - Wikipedia

There are tons of those here...usually. The population is a little low this year but chipmunks are making up for it. Last year we had the red squirrels but no chipmunks.

Come on up and take all you want ! They are a pest. I've shot both them and flying squirrels IN my house. I'm sick of rodents. At least chipmunks know they belong in underground living quarters.

barbender · October 27, 2020, 04:34:05 PM

Yeah you come on up, WV and I'll share my newfound wealth in Fairydiddleswith you😁 They've alerted deer to my prescence many a time, and when I finally got a chance to go elk hunting up in the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming, they were waiting for me up there too- to let the elk know I was there🤷🏽‍♂️😂

LeeB · October 27, 2020, 05:05:17 PM

I'm glad you defined what a fairydiddle is. Had me wondering if you were woodshed bound.

Hilltop366 · October 27, 2020, 06:39:28 PM

I've never heard of the term Fairydiddle but the are very common here in Nova Scotia.
This one was clever enough to open a peanut jar left on the deck unattended for a 1/2 hour.

Don P · October 27, 2020, 07:00:43 PM

Is this the same as a "boomer"?

WV Sawmiller · October 27, 2020, 07:17:34 PM

Don,

I have no idea. I have never heard the term "Boomer". I had never heard of a fairydiddle till I moved to WV.

Hilltop,

When I was a kid we spent a week camping at Otter Springs off the Suwannee River and we had grey squirrels roll a big jar of peanut butter uphill in our trailer till they rolled it off on the concrete where it broke. I gather they did not swallow any broken glass eating the peanut butter.

Barbender,

Now be fair. I bet they have told you just as often when a deer was coming. That is the main reason I don't shoot the squirrels on my place as they are my early warning system when a deer or other critter is moving in the woods. You can tell where a deer is by listening to the squirrels and chipmunks. As the deer leaves one squirrels area he shuts up then the chipmunk next door starts "munking" at him till he gets to the next ones range. I have followed a deer walking that way for half a mile when the weather is calm and you can hear the squirrels and munks a long way. Of course when it finally gets to you instead of a big old buck it may turn out to be a possum or fox or such. :D

Don P · October 27, 2020, 07:21:54 PM

Sounds like it, I googled and found a good article, turns out written by a friend and neighbor.
https://blueridgediscoverycenter.org/blueridgediscoverycenterblog/2018/10/1/mountain-boomer

WV Sawmiller · October 27, 2020, 08:34:23 PM

Don,

Thanks for the article. i always knew they were called pine squirrels and we have very few scattered white pines around here but the area where we saw this one has a pretty good stand of pines which helps explain why we saw him there since, according to the article, they prefer coniferous forests. I occasionally see where my spruce cones have been cut but I assume it is fox or gray squirrels since I am not seeing Fairydiddles here on my place.

KEC · October 27, 2020, 08:54:08 PM

Red Squirrels will have a favorite limb just out from the trunk of a conifer where they sit and chew open seed cones. On the ground below there may be a huge pile of chewed up cones. When I did wildlife control I formulated an equation: lots of conifer trees+ Black Walnut trees+ an old porous house = a Red Squirrel problem. I try to keep a lid on them here as they eat songbird nestlings.

Southside · October 27, 2020, 09:49:57 PM

WV - I am surprised you don't have a recipe for these little fellers. :D

Don P · October 27, 2020, 10:25:26 PM

Sounds like a reel of squirrel heads and gravy

:D

Skip · October 28, 2020, 07:50:25 AM

C'mon up here I'm covered up with em . >:( They will run a big red or gray off , go for the family jewels . :D

Don P · October 28, 2020, 08:10:16 AM

I was wondering if anyone else had heard that, that'd make a gray squirrel cross his legs :D

BradMarks · October 28, 2020, 11:25:58 AM

"Boomer" definition is geographic. Out here a boomer is the quick term for a Mountain Beaver, a rodent that burrows in the ground and loves to eat fir trees, chewing them off at a slant and severely impacting/distorting growth.

WV Sawmiller · October 28, 2020, 02:03:35 PM

@Southside ,

I assume you cook one just like a groundhog only it would take more to make a mess. They don't look big enough to prepare like an armadillo.

@skip ,

I had not heard that of a pine squirrel but my grandfather used to tell us about Bar squirrels just like a Bar hog. I think that was short for Barrow or gelded. We killed one squirrel with him one time he said was a Bar. I think it was just a young male whose 'nads (Nad?) had not dropped.

On our trip to the Galapagos Islands in 2008 our guide told us male sea lions would emasculate other males when fighting and the loser would die from blood loss and such. It might have just been shock if you ask me.

Hilltop366 · October 28, 2020, 05:37:23 PM

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on October 28, 2020, 02:03:35 PMbut my grandfather used to tell us about Bar squirrels

Maybe he meant they lost them in a bar fight!:-X

Don P · October 28, 2020, 05:48:04 PM

beenthere sent a link, another wives tale bites the dust.
Fact Checker: Do Squirrels Bite Testicles Off Other Squirrels? | MeatEater Hunting

Must not be many offbeat bluegrass fans reading, there's better versions but I liked the band name :D
Squirrel Heads And Gravy - YouTube

Autocar · October 28, 2020, 06:45:30 PM

When I saw your post I was expecting a Halloween story :D.

terrifictimbersllc · October 30, 2020, 12:41:13 PM

Howard I thought you might have hit your head on the blade guide arm again. :D

They always seem to be at our favorite campsites. Not to be trusted.

Once we got back from a days fishing on Mooselookmeguntic/Cupsuptic lake in Maine, and another camper came over to tell me that he saw a squirrel on my truck tire maybe I should check it out. I thought oh no as I realized that some cardboard had disappeared from the back of the truck over the previous 2 days.

I opened the hood and sure enough right in the center above my 7.3LPSD there was what looked like an eagle nest. Fortunately, the thing had only bit two wires to the turbo, which I was able to repair. Could have been worse.

Cute doesnt count. Now I throw rocks at them. :-[ :-[ :-[

gspren · October 30, 2020, 04:04:22 PM

Around my area we call them red squirrels and never heard Fairydiddle. Recently I spotted a Fairy Ring in one of my meadows and I now wonder if I see a Fairydiddle in a Fairy Ring if it will cause a major influx of good or bad luck?

WV Sawmiller · October 30, 2020, 07:26:08 PM

I had to look up a fairy ring as I had never heard of one.

I can't answer the question about whether seeing a fairydiddle in a fairy ring is good or bad luck but I'd be real careful if I saw one.

gspren · October 30, 2020, 09:37:22 PM

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on October 30, 2020, 07:26:08 PM
I had to look up a fairy ring as I had never heard of one.

I also looked it up when I saw it. Late summer I noticed about a 15' ring of dark grass and early fall I noticed puff ball mushrooms in the dark grass so I googled it and found out it was a Fairy Ring, also saw where it was discussed here on FF in the past.