Happy National Squirrel Appreciation Day!
For no apparent reason other than that someone decided to declare it as such in 2001, January 21st is National Squirrel Appreciation Day! It’s a day to think about your favorite squirrel, whether it’s the one that freezes and then scurries away as you walk by or that tries to break into your home by tearing apart your window screen. Perhaps it’s even one of these squirrels below! Whichever squirrel it is, wave hello next time you see them as you watch them scamper away.
Rocket J. Squirrel, known to his friends as Rocky, is an all-American squirrel, whose main goal in life is to hang out with his best friend, Bullwinkle J. Moose, and thwart communism. As a flying squirrel, Rocky used his abilities to not only glide, but levitate at will and even fly across the country. Hokey smoke!
In the Marvel universe, mutants come with a variety of strange and awesome superpowers. From regenerative healing to telepathy to weather control, mutant abilities are as varied as the number of people that have them. Take Doreen Green, also known as Squirrel Girl, whose mutant genes gave her the powers of a squirrel.
The ability to be incredibly jittery! The power to run into the street, then stop and almost get hit by a car! Actually, Squirrel Girl seemed to get the best of being a squirrel and is incredible quick and agile, with sharp claws and a long, powerful tail. She can also communicate with squirrels and raise up a large squirrel army, so really, we should be thankful she’s one of the heroes!
But what if squirrels were actually superheroes? Take one squirrel who happened to make a superhero-like pose and all of a sudden it’s turned into a sequel to Avengers where everyone was transformed into a squirrel! Squirrel-Thor! Actually, that’s not a terrible idea. I’m available to write the screenplay, Marvel! Here are some more squirrelly superheroes as imagined by Santiago Perez.
Nestled within the Animaniacs universe, further nestled in an alternate Looney Tunes universe, are Slappy and Skippy Squirrel.
Slappy, an elderly, former cartoon star, lives in a tree with her nephew, Skippy. Even though she is no longer in the business, Slappy still faces off against the same people she had in her old cartoons, using traditional gags like dynamite and anvils against her foes. Thankfully, the squirrels we encounter can do no such thing to us.
Squirreled away (sorry everyone!) from the evil Dr. Robotnik when she was very young, Princess Sally Acorn grew up to join the rebellion in an effort to regain control of the kingdom that her father once ruled.
Fighting alongside the likes of Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, and Miles "Tails" Prower, Sally proved to be vital in helping destroy the many Robotniks that kept coming from alternate dimensions!
You may not be familiar with the name Sugar Bush, but you might be familiar with her work, since Sugar Bush is the world’s most photographed squirrel. With over 3,000 squirrel-sized outfits, Sugar Bush has appeared in over 5,000 photos.
The most astonishing part about this is getting a squirrel to stand still for half a second, but maybe that’s why Sugar Bush is an international superstar. Check out her portfolio to see for yourself and don’t forget to watch Sugar Bush in action, as featured on TLC’s My Crazy Obsession.
To be honest, the real reason I wanted to write about squirrels is that I wanted to include this gif in a post. This perfectly encapsulates exactly what it means to be a squirrel. If you’ve never seen it, enjoy, and if you have, isn’t it the best?!
Do you have a favorite squirrel or any tips about celebrating National Squirrel Appreciation Day? Want to share a squirrel story with us? Let us know in the comments!
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Brian Morell is an awesome librarian from New York City. He writes about his travels and life at That Long Yellow Line and about music for The Ruckus. Follow him on Twitter @goodinthestacks.
