I pushed my luck today. I did a dumb thing and offered Lincoln his breakfast from my hand instead of putting it in a jar as I usually do. I had a palm full of sunflower seeds and I guess he wanted some meat with his seeds.
The first nip didn’t hurt, so I thought I’d wait to see if he took the seeds next, but he took a bigger nip of my finger and that’s when I decided to let him get his own breakfast from the jar. The bit of blood makes it look worse than it is, but I did check out diseases you can get from squirrel bites. I won’t put my hand out to him again. Lesson learned.
It was awkward taking a picture of my right hand with my left, but “you get the picture.”
A nearby junco saw the whole thing and I heard him say, like Tweetie, “Ooooooh! Dat hadda hurt!”
Meanwhile, Lincoln went back to enjoying his quiet breakfast, sassy little guy. After all, he is a wild animal, and not a pet. Wake up call for Anneli.
Lincoln ate sunflower seeds for breakfast while I had humble pie.
March 17, 2020 at 11:12 am
I was warning you earlier! A bit of polysporin and a bandaide over it will do – LOL! He is so cute and he showed you who is the boss on the woodpile.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 11:33 am
I’ll watch it in the next day or so but I’m sure it will be fine. And yes, you did warn me!
LikeLike
March 17, 2020 at 11:18 am
Yikes Anneli! Do you need a rabies injection? The Junco is adorable. 🥰
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 11:32 am
We’re not in a rabies infested area, but it does happen. On the other side of the island they have had a very rare case of a bat bite causing rabies. I think it bled enough to wash out any rabies bugs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 11:35 am
Good, I hope so! 😎
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 11:41 am
Thanks. I’m sure I’ll be fine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 11:29 am
I don’t want to be an alarmist but you might call your doctor. Animal bites are nothing to fool around with.😬
LikeLiked by 2 people
March 17, 2020 at 11:30 am
I know. I read a bit about it and it said that if they had rabies, they’d be dead by now. I’ve watched Lincoln for a long time and I’m sure he doesn’t have rabies. But it really was stupid of me to put my hand out there for him to nip.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 11:42 am
Take care!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 12:20 pm
I’ll be watching it carefully. Feeling kind of stupid now. It says something about my faith in my blogging friends to humble myself this way. I could have kept my stupidity to myself, so thanks for your support.
LikeLike
March 17, 2020 at 1:23 pm
Of course! I’m sure you’ll be fine!
BTW, I always share the crazy stuff that happens to me. That always makes the best stories. I have no shame. 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 11:37 am
Hi, Juanita’s sister here—I think squirrels have poor eyesight. I got nipped by one at Woodland Park Zoo trying to give him a peanut—he missed and got the tip of my finger!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 11:41 am
I think this happens to people frequently. The captain had a similar experience. I think the squirrels were trying to tell him (and you) that they don’t like peanuts. I read that they aren’t good for them (being legumes, not nuts). I made the same mistake at first. But as for being nipped, so glad you shared that, Rita, and good to know you survived it.
LikeLike
March 17, 2020 at 11:47 am
Hi Anneli.
I sure hope nothing bad develops from this “Bite”
Sometimes the cuteness factor of animals and their behavior takes our caution away.
One can not usually trust people 100%, much less wild animals, although the reason for this bite is probably not malicious.
Cheers !
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 12:19 pm
No, it was not malicious at all. He was just checking it out to see if the meat was tender! But yes, I’ve learned my lesson.
LikeLike
March 17, 2020 at 12:25 pm
I love the little juncos. 🙂
I hope you’re okay and you don’t start growing a fuzzy tail and running over the furniture. 😉
LikeLike
March 17, 2020 at 12:26 pm
I can just see me busy as a squirrel with a big feather duster, scampering all over the place swishing away the dog hair that fills our house constantly. I’ll let you know if that happens!
LikeLike
March 17, 2020 at 12:31 pm
He is cute, but their teeth are sharp. I’d take care of that bite.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 1:00 pm
I will, Belinda. It’s not too bad. Blood always makes things look worse.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 12:37 pm
Uh oh! Good luck with healing!
Stay safe,
Pit
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 1:00 pm
Tnx, Pit. I’m sure it will be okay. Enjoy your day.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 1:41 pm
Oh no – that squirrel was bold! I hope your hand heals well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 3:29 pm
I’m sure it will be fine, thanks. Yes, Lincoln is getting bold. He’s getting used to us after we’ve fed him all this past cold winter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 2:13 pm
I have to agree with Susie. Keep an eye on it. This is why I don’t like squirrels! I don’t like them attacking my blogging buddies or coming into our attic.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 3:26 pm
He was just telling me to get my hand out of his food. It wasn’t a vicious bite. Still, I’ve learned my lesson. No more handling the squirrels!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 2:52 pm
You sure are forgiving of Lincoln, Miss Anneli. That bite looked like it hurt. Keep it clean and I’m sure you’ll be fine, but keep an eye out for that bushy tail out your backside. 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
March 17, 2020 at 3:28 pm
You know how fingers can bleed. It was just a tiny puncture and I had wiped the blood off but by the time I got the camera pointed at my hand, another little puddle of blood had seeped out. I still think he’s the sweetest thing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 4:23 pm
In the eight years I had my pet squirrel, I got my share of bites — three or four, as I recall. He always warned when he was in a bad mood; I just didn’t always take him seriously. The funniest time was after he’d gotten into some fermented mesquite beans. He was a mean drunk!
LikeLiked by 2 people
March 17, 2020 at 5:46 pm
This made me laugh at the image of it!
LikeLiked by 2 people
March 17, 2020 at 7:15 pm
It would have been funny to see as long you were not the “nippee.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 7:16 pm
Yes, I would love to have seen him after a bout of mesquite beans.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 5:31 pm
OH NO!! Make sure it doesn’t start getting hot and red. Keep us updated. We care!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 7:14 pm
It’s already healing nicely, thanks. I’m embarrassed to have had such a stupid thing happen to me, but I think I dodged a bullet.
LikeLike
March 19, 2020 at 2:32 pm
Don’t be embarrassed, it happens to all of us. I’m glad it’s healing well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 19, 2020 at 3:42 pm
Thanks. It feels fine now.
LikeLike
March 19, 2020 at 4:43 pm
Good!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 5:47 pm
Oh man… swift healing and may a well timed acorn fall on his head to serve him his just desserts!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 17, 2020 at 7:13 pm
LOL! I had to laugh over that one. Poor little Lincoln!
LikeLike
March 17, 2020 at 9:54 pm
Cute and adorable but still we need to be cautious. Take care.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 18, 2020 at 11:37 am
Yes, you are so right. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 21, 2020 at 8:54 am
Oh, ouch. I feel that bite. Some years back, I was trying to get an injured grey squirrel into a box for medical treatment when it panicked and sunk its nutcracker teeth into my thumb. The volume of blood was astonishing. I went round to the hospital to check there was no fracture and to get a tetanus jab, and told the receptionist in the accident and emergency room that I’d been bitten by a squirrel. She tried to keep a straight face. She failed.
PS I’m sure there’s no rabies issues here, but for what it’s worth, any suspected injury from a rabid animal should be immediately scrubbed out with soapy water. Thereafter, one has to submit to being jabbed with enormous needles repeatedly for weeks. I know courtesy of an incident in Alberta in 2007. :s
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 21, 2020 at 10:27 am
I believe you, Adele. I know that there has been the occasional rabid bat on Vancouver Island but I’m pretty sure we are okay here. I hope I’m right anyway. If I stop putting posts up after April 30 you’ll know it got me!
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 23, 2020 at 4:30 am
Oh no! Naughty Lincoln. I’m glad it wasn’t at worse, Anneli.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 23, 2020 at 7:44 am
Me too, Jennie. It’s all healed up now, but I realized afterwards how stupid it was for me to stick my hand out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
March 23, 2020 at 2:00 pm
I would have been tempted, too. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person