The squirrel population in our neighborhood experienced a nice boom during the past few years. While previously we had 6-8 squirrels permanently inhabiting our yard, now we have at least 20!
I really love watching them playing and searching for nuts in the grass ( well, more like weed).
The apparent two fold increase in the population of our furry friends happens to coincide with the roughly 50% decrease in the motorist traffic in the area, which in turn seems to coincide with the stagnating economy.
Some say they are quite tasty roasted. ( Just kidding, I cry for days if I accidentally hit one... gulp.)