I try to keep my Sunday mornings slow. I take a walk outside my apartment, coffee in hand. On my walk, I’m accompanied by a whole symphony. In the lead are birds of all kinds. And just like how Zakir Hussain’s Tabla solo would be incomplete without the accompanying Tanpura, it’s hard to imagine nature’s orchestra without the chattering and squeaking of the squirrels.

There’s a group of five squirrels that live in a tree near my apartment. One of my favourite pastimes is observing these little creatures. I don’t know if they’re a family or just a group like the show F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Nevertheless, my extremely astute observations have shown me that:

1. They chase each other around a lot. I honestly don’t know if they’re playing or they are genuinely mad at each other (business idea: Couples’ Therapy for Squirrels)
2. They eat fruit that’s dropped from the tree
3. Sometimes the kid gets stuck in the most random-ass places and then makes a specific type of call for who I assume is its mum
4. They run away when I try to photograph them, even from a distance

But squirrels are more than just cute little hyperactive rodents who sometimes raid my mom’s birdfeeders.

They serve the environment in a multitude of ways, not the least of which is seed dispersal. Remember Scrat, that sabre-toothed squirrel from the Ice Age movies? Throughout the movies, Scrat tries to bury his acorn to store it for future indulgence, accidentally causing catastrophic events in the process. That is exactly how the squirrels help the environment (well, except for the catastrophic events part). They bury their nuts and seeds, and sometimes, being the busy little creatures they are, they forget where they buried them. A significant bummer from the squirrel’s POV. But for the nuts they buried, well, isn’t this exactly where they need to be to grow into trees? So, the squirrels act as agents for dispersing the seeds of the tree far away from where it stands. Interestingly, it’s not just the loss of nuts by squirrels that helps the ecosystem. The very act of digging the soil to bury their food is sort of a natural ploughing, thus allowing for better nutrient cycling, aeration and water penetration.

Every animal, no matter how big or small, has a role to play in the ecosystem. If you take it away, you risk creating an imbalance that’d be hard to repair. A chain is as strong as its weakest link. So, often it’s the animals that hold the food chain together that are most at risk.

Thankfully, these beloved rodents of ours are not on the endangered list. I can peacefully observe the group outside without worrying about their population decline.

Do the same, would you? Observe the animals around you: how they hunt, how they forage, how they feed their young, how they play. I promise you it’s a million times more satisfying than another trending reel.

Now I’ll take your leave. I’ll be back soon with another wild story.

Until then…be curious, stay kind 🙂