When Squirrels Were One of America's Most Popular Pets

[question everything]

In 1722, a pet squirrel named Mungo passed away. It was a tragedy: Mungo escaped its confines and met its fate at the teeth of a dog. Benjamin Franklin, friend of the owner, immortalized the squirrel with a tribute.

“Few squirrels were better accomplished, for he had a good education, had traveled far, and seen much of the world.” Franklin wrote, adding, “Thou art fallen by the fangs of wanton, cruel Ranger!”

Mourning a squirrel’s death wasn’t as uncommon as you might think when Franklin wrote Mungo’s eulogy; in the 18th- and 19th centuries, squirrels were fixtures in American homes, especially for children. While colonial Americans kept many types of wild animals as pets, squirrels “were the most popular,” according to Katherine Grier’s Pets in America, being relatively easy to keep.

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[mopinko]

1. my dad had 2 pet squirrels.

he and his brother used to hunt for family dinners. they shot a squirrel, and realized that it was a nursing mom. they found the babies, 4 of them. 2 survived to be my dad's best buds- mickey and nicky.

[question everything]

2. Sad but also sweet

[mopinko]

9. hey, they shot something or they didnt have meat.

baby squirrels are kinda hard to raise, and they were tiny.
they were great pets.

[Ohiogal]

3. My mom's neighbor

used to feed squirrels peanuts right out of her hand, they would come right up to her back door.

They are cute little buggers and entertaining to watch, but I can’t imagine letting one loose in my house!

[mopinko]

10. i bought a mess of a house.

it had an enclosed porch w 10 windows. a squirrel had gotten trapped out there and chewed the hell out of every one of those windows.

[3catwoman3]

4. I love watching the squirrels that...

...frequent our back yard.

[question everything]

5. Or the front porch - like the one in the picture

[3catwoman3]

6. Our bird feeder is in the back yard, so that...

...is where “our” squirrels hang out, hoping for some dropped seeds.

[customerserviceguy]

7. My lady

had a squirrel as a pet when she was a kid. One day, she came home from school, and "Snoopy" had dug through and destroyed a lot of her father's paperwork from his home office for his insurance business. He escorted her and the squirrel to a local park where Snoopy was set free.

When they walked back home, there was Snoopy, clinging to the front porch screen door. The next phase of the liberation project involved an automobile ride.

[jberryhill]

8. I have one that visits every day

We take a cashew break together when she shows up. My desk is near the patio door, so she'll tap on it to get my attention if I don't see her at first.

[3catwoman3]

11. Can you tell the gender of a squirrel from afar?

I have never seen any anatomical features on the ones who visit us that would help me identify them as girls or guys.

[jberryhill]

12. It was apparent over the summer...

...that she had gained weight, lost weight, and had obviously been nursing.

[3catwoman3]

13. I am going to give in to the sophomoric impulse to say...

...that I have never seen any squirrel nuts, so I was wondering how you could tell.

[jberryhill]

14. Oh. They hide their nuts

[Major Nikon]

15. My roommate and I had a pet squirrel when I was in the military

We found him orphaned and decided to take him in. When you came into the room, he would run up your leg, crawl between your blouse and t-shirt and nest there. Naturally we named him Rocky.

The problem was we were also brewing homebrew in our room and the dorm manager eventually came to investigate the smell when we were out. Rocky ran up his leg as usual and the dorm manager thought it was a rat and basically had a conniption. Needless to say that was the end of us keeping a pet squirrel and making homebrew in the room. We relocated Rocky to a friend of ours who lived off-base.

[smirkymonkey]

16. I think they are adorable!

I would love to have one as a pet. I love chipmunks as well. I love to sit in a park and watch them play. The thing is, in the cities, they seem to have no fear of people and they always think you have food on you even if you don't, so they will come up really close to you and sometimes I am afraid they will bite if I don't have a treat for them.