Out of my office window, I see a lot of backyard squirrel activity. My house is situated next to a giant black walnut tree, and the squirrels go crazy for them! As I write this now, a fuzzy black squirrel is sitting on a tree branch having a nice mid-afternoon snack of walnut.

As much as I love squirrels, there certainly exists a large portion of people who view them as backyard pests. My father could even be placed in this category as the squirrels like to store the walnuts in our garage, often causing a cascade of nuts to fall onto unsuspecting people. However, there are also those lovely good Samaritans who have found baby squirrels and nursed them back to health because, lets face it everyone, they are pretty cute! But definitely, not so cute that we should squirrel-nap them and make them pets, don’t do that!

In honor of Squirrel Appreciation Day (Jan. 21), let’s take a look at some reasons to love our backyard squirrels.

1. On a hot day, they know just what to do.

Yes, I know most of us are still freezing in the midst of winter, but hey, let’s look to the future! We’ve probably all seen a hot squirrel fanning out in the summer heat on a bird bath or the grass and it looks so relaxing.

2. Sometimes, they just want to say, hello!

3. They will finish your leftovers!

In a week’s time, they can eat a quantity of food that is almost equal to their body weight.

4. They plant trees for us.

According to Live Science, grey squirrels bury their acorns all over the place, often forgetting where they put them, causing the seeds to become oak trees.

5. Squirrels are a great study for wildlife photography.

One of the best ways to appreciate wild animals is to respect them and their habitat. Capturing an image of them from afar gives you a chance to get out in nature and learn a little more about these awesome little creatures.

Have a great squirrel photo? Post it to our Facebook page today!

Lead Image Source: likeaduck/Flickr