Posted on 04/24/2013 12:26:27 PM PDT by nickcarraway
While most squirrels spend their days climbing trees or roaming around in search of a nutty treat, Winkelhimer Smith likes to concentrate on more cultured activities.
The Louisiana-based squirrel has a passion for painting, with her artwork earning plaudits from admirers around the globe.
Her life wasn’t always so rosy however; back in 2011 she became disabled after a vicious stray cat attempted to eat her.
Thankfully, she was saved by the animal-loving Shyla Mouton, who adopted Winkelhimer and nursed her back to health.
Depression may have returned when the name Winkelhimer was bestowed upon her, but the squirrel has since overcome her disability and learnt to express herself through painting.
Grabbing (or nibbling) the paintbrush in her mouth, Winkelhimer spends hours every week creating the artwork which is sold on eBay for charity.
‘She mainly likes slinging the brush around,’ explained her owner. ‘Her favourite colour is yellow so she likes to use it a lot.
Pen pusher (Picture: Facebook / Winkelhimer) ‘When we got her I made my work room her home and I just squirrel-proofed everything.
‘They’re really smart about mimicking things you do, so she would watch me paint and she started to come and mess with the brushes.
‘She decided it was lots of fun and that’s how the squirrel painting started.’
Internet stardom has since followed for the animal entrepreneur who now has her very own Facebook, YouTube and Twitter account.
Having saved three baby squirrels from a hungry snake and raising them for a year, I can tell you that squirrels do NOT make good pets. They eat everything, they require a lot of room to play, and when they bite... ohh... when they bite...
I raised one too. She came staggering across the lawn & tried to nurse on my toe. She was so tiny. I bottlefed her, and she took to it like a duck to water. Her favorite thing was to crawl into the sleeve of my baggy sweater & sleep like she was in a hammock. It is SOOO illegal to save a baby squirrel in MA, I had to turn her back into the wild as soon as she was able to fend for herself. I hope she did okay.
Chipmunks are more suited to pets, than squirrels, from the ones I’ve encountered at my Farm.
We let my three “experiments” out in the wild after about a year. They darted right out of the cage and into some of the nearby oak trees like nothing happened.
They’re cute little buggers, but they’re not cuddly like you’d think.
That’s encouraging. Maybe ‘Wednesday’ did fine too.
She never bit me, but once she climbed me like I was a tree—w the speed of summer lightning. Ouch; those claws are sharp.
Mine would occasionally escape from their cage and wreak havoc on my room. I learned how to re-wire lamp cords and re-finish wood furniture thanks to them.
“I learned how to re-wire lamp cords”
This is a skill I cd use. My part Lab sawed through a nice lamp cord, & an American Bull I fostered chewed the cord off a VERY expensive fifty gallon fish heater. [I was told the Lab wd never touch a cord again (the theory being she got shocked in the process) & it’s true. She’s given electrical cords a wide berth ever since.]
fish = tropical fish
You gotta make sure it gets its medicine six times a day and keep its tail elevated.
Kelly's husband Drew works 70 hours a week at three jobs (teacher, private tutor, musician) so that Kelly can play rodent Barbies all day.
I don’t blame him for wanting to be out of thouse hpr 70 hours.
The little bastids (three of 'em) discovered my citrus trees last year and had been wreaking havoc on my crops. BB gun "aversion therapy" wasn't working so looking for options became the order of the day a couple of months ago.
I "ordered in" on the pellets, threw a few out three weeks ago, and have been totally free of the buggers since.
Nasty climbing rats. They steal from my nut trees and I shoot theirs off.
Eraze AG....stuff’s magic (see my post 14).
Checked it out - their stomach acid releases phosphine gas. Might be a problem with all the other critters ranging around here. Thanks, but I believe I’ll stick with lead supplements.
Awwww, she sounds cute.
I love the third line of this article “vicious stray cat”, as if cats are “bad” for attacking prey.
What a sweet story.
I raised a baby squirrel that my dog found in the back yard, it fell out of a tree. My dog brought her to me gently without hurting her. I bottle fed her and she loved to ride on my shoulder as I walked around the house.
When you passed by someone she would jump to their shoulder and continue her ride.
I was standing in front of a mirror and she must have thought there was another person there and she jump to their shoulder. Instead she hit the mirror and injured her spine.
She was paralyzed from the middle of her body down. I had to have her put to sleep and it broke my heart.
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