Squirrel Appreciation Day

Two days ago I somehow forgot to acknowledge Squirrel Appreciation Day which is celebrated every January 21st. S.A.D. was started by animal rehabilitator Christy Hargrove who is affiliated with the Western North Carolina Nature Center.
The only thing I've ever appreciated about a squirrel was the brief entertainment value it provided when I saw it fall out of a very tall sycamore tree. It hit the ground and was stunned for a few seconds before scurrying off. Then there was the time a squirrel got trapped in a supposedly squirrel-proof bird feeder and died. It had to be removed before it stiffened up. I didn't appreciate that at all.


1240 WSQL plays hits from the 1950s through 1990s and is located in Brevard, North Carolina. It is an increasingly rare breed--a music-based AM with lots of local content broadcasting live from a window overlooking Main Street.

The station call letters and mascot are a reference to Brevard's large population of white squirrels. Over 1/4 of all squirrels in town are a white variant of the Eastern Grey Squirrel (not albino as I would have thought) and a 1986 city ordinance established the entire city limits as a squirrel sanctuary.