LETTER 6: Upcoming Gym Show & Story About a Family of Squirrels

The first MaxFest is happening at the local MaxFitness located at 7347 Highland road! My friend Matt & I came up with the idea to host a show at our local gym, approached the owners, and worked with them over the past months to make this happen. Matthew’s band, Wave Runner, will be playing live music, and there will be a special set from yours truly with the live band backing. There will also be food, art supplied by my friend Kristen (instagram here), and a special $11 membership sign up deal for all who sign up to the gym! Instead of having to pay around ($70) to start your membership…you can walk in with $11 and walk out with a membership! See y’all out there for this exciting event! :)

The 2nd 808 Sessions Live Music Showcase event happened a week ago on Sunday, November 2nd, at LSU’s Hilltop Arboretum! Thank you to everyone who came out to support and experience some lovely local musicians showcasing their talents. We’ll be hosting many more of these in the future and you can find out about them through this newsletter & by following our social medias (SOLEAUX’s / 808 Sessions’)! If you haven’t been to the Hilltop Arboretum, you should go stop by and check out the preserved plot of nature they have in the middle of town located at 11855 Highland Road! We’ll have videos of the show uploaded soon…rock on!

Also, just a reminder, the first episode of my “Chatting With…” Series is live with Butterfly Expert Dr. Gary Noel Ross! If you haven’t seen it, click on the image above and get ready for an exciting and educational ride of a conversation!

THE SQUIRREL HOUSE

Stick around til the end of this story as I filmed this experience & have the video uploaded so you can watch :)

Many moons ago, I witnessed the wonders of a nurturing mother squirrel’s show of affection & protection for its two innocent newborns…and it’s only right that I got to witness this first-hand in the most accessible of places one can interact with the environment…not at a park, nor a zoo, nor the wilderness beyond…but in the comfort of my nature-filled backyard of my studio house, the DOJEAUX.

Let’s start at the beginning. When I moved into this house, there was a Purple Martin house already hoisted twenty or so feet in the air by a jimmy-rigged connection of fence posts and duct tape. Even though I have yet to see a Purple Martin, many other birds have frequented this elevated affordable housing area over the years in search of a lookout point, and in some cases, of a home for the season. Many different birds have rotated through this community space including House Sparrows, Finches, and even on occasions Carolina Chickadees. I often awake in the mornings to the sound of the birds chirping and look out my window to see them perched on the “balcony” of their house…like this chickadee below!

I actually found another Purple Martin house in the 2 story barn on the property (which is a whole other story I will dive into sometime in the future of this newsletter…but just to pique your interest…the man who previously lived here built a 3 room, 2 story, 1 loft barn with his wife in 1974, which my friends and I have been combining efforts on to clean and make useable again!). After looking at this house every time I walked into the barn but never taking action, I decided one day that it was time to hoist that bird house up on the other side of my trellis with additional fence posts I found laying around to give the birds more housing options! I requested the help of my neighbor, and with lots of effort and “mental math”, we were able to sling it up into the air using the trellis beams for leverage and tie it down in the adjacent spot. Having two Purple Martin houses in my backyard gave the birds many more housing options to choose from…and not just the birds…but also the subject of this story…the squirrels too!

Driving through my neighborhood in March, I noticed, and slowed down for, many a baby squirrels learning to dive, duck, dodge, & dip oncoming cars while crossing the streets. I always made sure to drive slowly and allow them ample time to get out the way as my vehicle creeped towards them. (Side note: I think the reason they cut across the street back & forth so sporadically is that this is how they avoid large predatory birds and other animals. However, we drive our vehicles in a single direction on the streets, not swerving and turning much, whereas birds will shift their direction frequently to track and attack moving prey. Since the squirrels are trained to avoid such attacks & can “shake” their natural predators with unpredictable movements themselves, thus buying themselves a few more seconds to escape to safety as the bird has to make another pass, they might see our vehicles as large predators in which they are trying to evade in a similar way! Just my thoughts…). Seeing these baby squirrels frequently, I was made aware of the birth seasons in spring & fall, and was always excited to see new life! Seeing it on the streets while driving is one thing, but it’s hard to appreciate such a wonderful season of nature from the confines of my mechanical moving machine. I always longed to see such life up close, in an intimate and protected space where the squirrels weren’t frantically running for their lives and I wasn't cautiously trying to avoid them…you know…wouldn’t it more enjoyable for both of us in a place where they feel safe…maybe where there was grass to run around on, acorns they could stash away, or even other animals to interact with…maybe…just maybe…in a place where there were 2 Purple Martin houses.

It was the closing hours of a warming mid-spring day of 2024 as I sat in my house drinking my freshly brewed earl grey tea mixed with mint from my herb garden & honey from a local farm. Looking out left from my dining table, I watched as the leaves rustled from the seasonal intermittent wind & the daylight faded as the sun crept into its predictable slumber for the night. As I was admiring this little slice of paradise I get to live on & tend to, my eyes drifted right without much intent, but then abruptly locked on to noticeable movement along the beams of the trellis. Just in time! Lo & behold my entertainment for my evening tea sipping appeared in my backyard…this time in the form of a “tree rat”…or as most people call them…a squirrel. This squirrel made its way across the horizontal beams as it approached the base of the original Purple Martin house. My eyes followed.

Raising my touristy New Orleans mug to my lips, I tilted the glass for a sip of some of nature’s nectar…but before it could make contact with its maker’s mouth, out the corner of my eye, I caught sight of what I thought I would never see in my backyard. Out the frame of my dining room window walked in a baby squirrel, following its mother along the beam. My mug of tea hit the table as my attention was consumed by the mother & child pair. Then, as if nature knew of my excitement for this situation and wanted to double down on her beauty and entertainment potential, the second baby followed the first.

In the luckiest of sit downs, I was now fully invested as I watched this Mama squirrel lead her family of 2 around my oasis…and little did I know at that time that she wasn’t just guiding them aimlessly or appreciating the work I’ve done to take care of the place…but she was surveying for something much greater…for a safe home for her youngins.

Breaking me out of my tranquil trance of admiration, she took to the Purple Martin house pole! Scurrying up the metal fence post, she reached halfway and looked back in hopes to see her babies following. Too young and fearful to take on the risky climb of a slippery surface such as said metal, the baby squirrels remained on the trellis below, looking up at their mother with eyes & mannerisms that can roughly be translated in human terms to “ain’t no way”.

The mother, now disappointed in her children’s lack of courage, climbed back down to give them a pep talk. After a few seconds of yip-yapping & encouragement, she ran back up the pole to the same half-way mark, but this time with more faith in her children! Turning to look back down, I could see the confidence drain from her face as once again, she saw no movement. Trying to show her young ones how to climb to safety by example was not working. Maybe they were too distracted by my luscious landscaping or expressive exterior, but they just were not getting it. Understanding the situation, the Mama squirrel knew what had to be done. She came down the pole once more, except this time with the fires of intention in her eyes.

Approaching the closest child she could get her paws on, she wrastled the young one’s neck scruff into her mouth, biting down with belligerence, and headed for the skies! With a pace unseen from any known squirrel species and the warming winds behind her, she braced the pole and began her bold bustle towards the bird box. With eyes on the prize and safety of her children on her mind, I watched in awe as she scaled the sole obstacle in her way.

Reaching the top of the pole, still with the pace she began with and showing no intent of slowing down, she LEAPED backwards with her child in her mouth, reaching for the out-jutted balcony of their new home. Anticipation compounded as she seemed to float in mid air for many moments. Then, with all the strength and focus her little squirrel body could muster up, her paws landed on the protruding piece of the Purple Martin house and pulled her and her loved one to safety. Once one was secured, she ran back down and repeated the process with her second child, successfully stowing her family in the Purple Martin house for safety until they matured and became ready to take on the outside world with all its dangerous drivers and peckish predators.

I spent many nights of the following weeks sitting quietly outside with a cup of tea around sunset time. As the sun went down and the last rays cast themselves across the leaves of my satsuma trees…I would hear rustling in the back of my yard and know it was time. Like clock work, mama squirrel would run along the fence line after a full day of foraging, face stuffed with nutritional nuts, and head for her home’s access point, the pole she once shuffled up trying to show her children how to climb. She would do the same running & leaping manner as before to access the house, except this time knowing her babies were already secure. They greeted her with hungry stomachs every day for about 2 weeks until they reached maturity and eventually left the “nest”.

Every morning I would wake up and check out my window to see them waking up and running around the outside of their new home. The two siblings loved playing with each other and occupying different rooms in the house in what seemed to be a game of hide-and-seek! Whenever I would step outside, they would scurry inside one of the rooms and pop their heads out to watch me as I walked around the backyard. Mama squirrel would leave in the morning to provide for her family, and return every night.

This was one of the most entertaining and miraculous motherly acts of nature I’ve seen first hand. The things mamas will do for their kids…

Since this notable occurrence, I have seen other 2 mature squirrels live up there at separate times over the course of 2-4 week periods. They would all come “home” around sunset to nestle themselves away in the safety of the covered Purple Martin house for the night. During these periods, I would sit outside about 10 minutes before sunset and watch as they made their way along the fence, through the satsuma trees, over the trellis, and into the house. I recall one time when I was outside with a friend talking and one of the squirrels made its way from the back but then stopped along the fence line. I took this as a sign of being scared of getting too close to us, and knowing its intentions were to get home and get some sleep, I quickly ushered my friend inside to watch from my dining room window. Right as we shut the door, the squirrel took advantage of the now safe situation and bolted along the path home and up the pole for the night! We then went back outside to continue talking!

I hope you enjoyed this short story as much as I did experiencing and writing it! Keep in mind all of these interactions are happening around us in the natural world and we can’t witness them first hand by being inside! Take some time to get outside without any technology or distractions, and just observe…you might be surprised by the potential magic of nature that is waiting for your attention! All the best, SOLEAUX

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