My love-hate relationship with squirrels began back in my first year Biology course at the University of Toronto, when I was researching the foraging habits of the black squirrels in Queen's Park. Unaware of the dangers, I ventured in with my notebook and a bag of peanuts. Within minutes, I ended up fleeing, with a crazed squirrel clinging to my leg and the Black Horde in pursuit, my peanuts scattered.

Fast forward to my first gardening efforts in our new house, when the squirrels would wait until I had nurtured and transplanted young vegetable and herb seedlings outside, then (chortling with mirth, I'm sure) would rip them out and toss them aside. Squirrels invade my basement office, clean out our birdfeeder, bite the heads off tulips, cause power blackouts in our neighbourhood. The war is ongoing.

I wrote a song about squirrels.

My first solo picture book features squirrels (my editor told me that I couldn't make the squirrels EVIL since it might scare young readers, so I made them naughty instead).

For more info, please see:

My Beware The Squirrel blog

My Squirrels Are Evil And Taking Over The World Facebook page

My squirrel photos, comics and drawings on Flickr

Check out the fun comic that my friends Debs & Errol made for me on my birthday in 2013:

Also, see some of my squirrel-related answer in the Odder Questions That People Have Asked Me section of my FAQ.

Last updated on August 10, 2015 by Debbie Ohi