I saw the almost exact same thing today, except the harasser was a
Steller's Jay. After driving the squirrel up and down (and around) the
trunk of a hemlock several times, the jay eventually got the squirrel out
on a limb, from which it had little recourse but to leap to the ground (a
good 20-30 feet) and scamper away into the underbrush, the jay in hot
pursuit. Thus ended the battle....they (the jays) nested in said tree
earlier this year, and fledged 3 youngsters. Might they be thinking of a
second round, or are they just being jays?

Roger Olstad
Univ. of Washington, Seattle

On Sun, 18 Jun 1995, Tom Foote wrote:

>
> Howdy, Tweets--
>
> Yesterday I saw a crow launch from his perch 1/3 the way up a tall fir
> that was fairly foliage-less 2/3's to the canopy (if that makes any
> sense) and buzz a squirrel that was coming down an adjacent tree. The
> squirrel went back up and the crow returned to his perch. A couple
> minutes later, the scene repeated with the crow going around the tree
> chasing the squirrel, which went back up the tree. The third time, very
> soon thereafter, the crow launched again and went around the tree chasing
> the squirrel, but the squirrel went down instead of up and that seemed to
> be the end of it. The crow did not have feet extended like it wanted to
> grab the squirrel, but it tired hard to stay with the squirrel as they
> went 'round the tree..it almost looked like a game, but we've all seen
> crows predate things before, so it made me wonder. I suppose it could
> have been trying to keep the squirrel out of the canopy where it probably
> has a nest..or who knows what it was doing. I just have never seen a crow
> do this particular behavior..
>
> Tom
>
>
>
> Tom Foote footet at elwha.evergreen.edu
> Lab II
> The Evergreen State College (360) 866-6000 x6118
> Olympia, WA 98505
>
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