This yard squirrel was taught to perform all these tricks by simply adding one obstacle at a time and moving the reward along the mechanical path.
This is classical chaining of behaviors, but don't kid yourself; though you may have a trained squirrel, you do not have a socialized squirrel. Try to pick this fellow up, and he will bite your finger to the bone!
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My brother and I had a pet squirrel when I was maybe 15... we took her from a nest in a tree when she was the size of a pecan, pink and hairless, and raised her with formula and a tiny bottle we got from the vet. She was cute, friendly, inquisitive, and very playful, that is until she was about 9 months old. She then became grouchy, short tempered and prone to nipping. We finally released her after she bit completely through the nose of a friend when he was teasing her. She chose to live close to the house, and even after that she was always friendly enough with us, although we never dared to pick her up again.
ReplyDeleteAh, now, THAT was fun, thanks!
ReplyDeleteSeahorse
It's stuff like this that keeps me coming back to your blog.....
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