Squirrels at My Window: Life With a Remarkable Gang of Urban Squirrels

by Grace Marmor Spruch

Life with a Remarkable Gang of Urban Squirrels

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction, Animals

189 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2000

Reviews

[Zoom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been trying to get hold of this book for years. I've ordered it twice on Amazon, only to wait forever for it to arrive on a slow boat from China, which it never did. I eventually found a second-hand copy on Abebooks, which finally arrived after the delivery window closed and hope had been abandoned.

The book was written by an American physics professor. She and her husband lived in an apartment in Greenwich Village. A squirrel surprised them in their home one morning, which led to them welcoming all the neighbourhood squirrels into their home, and provided them with a daily smorgasbord of nuts. They named the squirrels and studied their habits and worried about them as individuals. They shelled nuts for those with dental problems, and even paid the dentist bills for one squirrel whose teeth wouldn't stop growing.

Basically, they're me except for the part about letting them into her home and paying their dental bills.

One thing that amused me about this book is that she decided to take a scientific approach to the whole thing and write a book about squirrels, since she's a trained observer of electrons. Given the scarcity of existing squirrel data, she mused "...if I could learn to refrain from anthropomorphic interpretation and simply stick to reporting observations, perhaps those observations might even be of some value." She then proceeds to make friends with the squirrels, pick favourites, name them, pet them, feed them, shell their nuts for them, take them to vets, and mourn the ones that died. (Let's just say that there appears to be more affection here than scientific objectivity.)

There are a couple of differences between her squirrel population and mine. First of all, hers are predominantly grey, while mine are predominantly black. Hers see peanuts as somewhat inferior to other nuts, while mine like peanuts best. Other than that, there were a lot of similarities.

Interesting and enjoyable book if you like squirrels as much as I do.

[Colleen Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this episodic look at the experience of feeding squirrels in this lady's apartment off Washington Square Park in NYC. They are fascinating creatures with quirks and personalities.

I feed (what I believe to be) three squirrels on my balcony and enjoy their antics, but I wouldn't want them coming inside my place. I put the food out and then they come around; I never actually interact personally with them except through the window.

I also put out birdseed, in case you're wondering. I'm an equal-opportunity feeder. :)

[Jena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the descriptions of all the squirrels in this book. They're so unique!
Anyone who thinks "an animal is the same as any other" is truly missing out on a fascinating part of the world we live in.

[Elijah]

I searched for years to find a book about squirrels. This is the only nature writing I can find about squirrels. (There is also a single textbook and a study of squirrels in popular culture, both of which I plan to read.) I learned of it from the only person I found who knew there was even one book about squirrels, a kind employee of Powell's Books in Portland. He directed me to their only copy, high on a shelf tucked between too many books about other urban rodents of greater infamy or acclaim.

This book was worth the search. It is quite good.

[Lara Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Last summer, squirrels started coming to us for food. So much of what Grace Spruch described I have seen in the squirrels that visit us daily. The squirrel antics she shared made me laugh out loud. If you enjoy watching or feeding squirrels, I highly recommend this book!

[Nikita · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a true connoisseur of squirrels, Squirrels at My Window tells plenty lovely (and sometimes very said) stories about these exceptional creatures. I've enjoyed it thoroughly!

[Nick DiNatale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, easy, and slightly humorous read, particularly if you already interact with squirrels. They’re really quite interesting little individuals with varying personalities and this book displays that well.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love squirrels.

[Ali · Rating 1 out of 5]

Self-indulgent, poorly written, boring, no storyline.