Here's the link to a little 4 second clip that show the family that's been showing up in back since spring.

The mother started coming around last November. One night I went outside, and she was up in our one little tree. We just stared at each other. She stayed put, so I asked her if she was hungry went in and got and dropped some cat food down for her. After a couple of months I told my wife "You know, she's getting BIG". She joked that maybe she was pregnant. Well, she was.

So, in April or thereabouts, we started getting these visits from not only the mother, but the 5 babies. Almost every night until August they would come around about midnight, and I'd give them some cat food, bread, and peanuts. If our security light came on and I went out and didn't see them, all I had to do is click my tongue and they would all come running. They'd all pile on the stoop by our garage door and wait for me to throw them some food.

They would also get in our bird bath and splash around and drink, and the mother, who loves her bread more than anything would always take her nightly slice of bread over and soak it there and eat it.

They played on our patio, climbed on our granddaughter's Playskool basketball hoop, splashed in her wading pool, and just were just a joy to have around.

They've never bothered anything, they always eat and go their way, except once in awhile when they go up in our oak to sit, clean up and digest their "dinner". The only issues we ever had was when we actually had a 2nd family come around for awhile. Another mother and her 3 babies. There were a couple of times when I had to go out and keep the peace, but they usually kept their distance from one another. I remember the first time I yelled at them, they all stopped and looked at me like, "What's his problem?" I also had to raccoon-proof our squirrel den, since there was a little mischief there back in the spring.

They don't come around like they used to, but a couple come by themselves now, and once in awhile the mother will show up with 2 or 3 of the babes in tow.

The clip is one I took with my digital camera when they were teeny. I have about 1 1/2 hours of some really cute video of them and our squirrels, and tons of pictures that I may make a web gallery with if I get around to it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chow Time