An Abu Tale, that launched thousands of Furry tails

Squikie On the look out

In the early sixties Mount Abu had no squirrels it was always thought that that the height of Abu and its cool climate did not sustain the squirrel. Squirrels were brought to Abu in the early sixties by the Abu Road boys who lived below Mount Abu. These squirrels’ were brought as personal pets by the A.I boys of St.Mary’s School.


I had a pet squirrel while I was in school; I had named him Barry, but this guy was nothing like our Princy Barry. He was a cute and loving chap who loved to cuddle up against my belly button inside my shirt. Squirrels can recognize their owners by their body odour and by their voice; they do not take to strangers, if strangers try to handle them they end up getting a sharp nip by these critters. My Barry had learnt to be more sociable as he had no problem making himself at home in the pockets of my class mates.

Keeping squirrel as pets in a boarding school was an abs NO NO situation. So to counter this we gradually set these loving and precious pets free by teaching them to live in the trees behind the school. The Squikies as fondly known by the Marian would look forward to our daily visit after our lunch and tea breaks for the tit bits that we would smuggle out for them. Over time these tame squikies would move away from the school vicinity during the mating season and over the years they adapted to the climate and today Abu has squirrels by the thousands.

A family of squirrels watching a rock snake that had come to devour them

The vigilant mother who kept the snake at bay

This little guy rescued by my niece Inno

He is now back in the wild but does pay them a visit every afternoon for his tit bit

 along with his new found mates