A squirrelly time

The leaf vacuums are in full blower mode now that most of the trees have shed their leaves.

Unless, of course, you live in parts of Lake County where they still practice that antiquated and unhealthy -- but fun and enjoyable -- practice of leaf burning.

Either way, this is the time of year you notice bare trees and find who occupied backyard branches during the previous months. Your tree neighbors, so to speak.

After being treated to a rainbow of autumnal colors, it's time to break out the rakes and discover who's been sharing your view of God's quarter acre from their lofty perches. A bird's nest in a maple here, a hornet hive there in an oak and the most ubiquitous of them all, squirrels' nests.

Many consider gray squirrels to be nothing short of tree rats. You will get no argument here.

Others contend they are tree rats with nice bushy tails and cute in a cuddly sort of way. As a long-time observer of Lake County squirrels, I can offer the following: They are not as smart as they appear, nor as dumb as you think.

But they certainly can build sturdy nests in crooks of soaring trees, high in the canopy. Except for those squirrels apparently afraid of heights. They build their leafy condos in the shorter fruit trees.

Why some go high and others low, I am unaware. It sounds like a worthy topic for a federally funded study.

While we are most familiar with gray squirrels in Lake County, parts of the county once were home to red squirrels. They were driven out years ago by the pushy gray squirrels. If you see a black squirrel, I am told those are just young gray squirrels whose coats will turn gray as they age. Like most of us.

Yet there are other types of squirrels nesting around us. Perhaps you have seen their nests since the trees have been stripped, like the following:

Flying squirrels -- They don't pay attention to their landing zones.

H1N1 squirrels -- No need to panic when you see one.

Bear squirrels -- Usually they're lackadaisical on Sundays.

Cubs squirrels -- You'll see them again next year.

Birther squirrels -- They just keep digging, but don't come up with anything.

Enemy squirrels -- Fox-like in their appearance.

Bailout squirrels -- They always want more.

Health-care squirrels -- They like umbrella coverage.

Sheriff squirrels -- They jump deftly from tree to tree.

Ballon-Boy squirrels -- Usually discovered hiding in attics.

Campaign squirrels -- They're in the neighborhoods every other year.

Big-hair squirrels -- Native to Illinois, they want to migrate to New York to collect nuts.

Quinn squirrels -- They're all over the place.

Newspaper squirrels -- Not extinct yet.