Squirrel Appreciation Day and National Hugging Day Celebrated on January 21st

If you are thinking that celebrating squirrels sounds a little bit nutty, I agree. I was curious just how this holiday came to be. According to the Holiday Origins website , Christy Hargrove from Asheville, North Carolina started Squirrel Appreciation Day on January 21, 2001. Christy is a wildlife rehabilitator in North Carolina, and is affiliated with the Western North Carolina Nature Center. Christy Hargrove has her own website with helpful hints if you are facing squirrel problems. If you would like to view the squirrel appreciation day founders website you can find it here

If you think squirrels just sit in trees, eat nuts and raid your bird feeders, you have never seen Twiggy the Water Skiing Squirrel. This amazing Twiggy the Water Skiing Squirrel has been on many TV shows including The TODAY show, Good Morning America and the Late Show with David Letterman. Twiggy also tours the country and helps teach about water safety. If you are interested in seeing Twiggy you can view his tour schedule here Also be sure to check out the official Skiing Squirrel website here

If you would like to see Twiggy's skiing skills in action view the video here

According to the website www.squirrels.org , There are over 365 species of squirrels in seven families. There are also both pure white and pure black squirrels.

The best known squirrel in popular culture today is the SpongeBob character 'Sandy Cheeks.' Texas is where Sandy Cheeks originally came from. The SpongeBob show has never explained just how Sandy Cheeks arrived in Bikini bottom. If you would like to color your very own Sandy Cheeks I have found a coloring page here

If you are interested in celebrating this glorious squirrel holiday but are not sure how, I offer some suggestions.

How about a coloring a squirrel picture. I have found some great squirrel coloring pages: Squirrel holding a acorn coloring page here, and a cute squirrel eating coloring page here

If you prefer a squirrel dot to dot, I have found one here

If coloring does not seem festive enough, May I suggest singing the squirrel song. You can sing the song and play piano with the sheet music provided here

If you are a Martha Stewart type and need to make a craft for all holidays, you are in luck! You can make your very own Squirrel toilet paper roll craft here

National Hugging Day (NHD)

January 21st is also National Hugging Day!

The Holiday Origins website says: National Hugging Day was created in 1986 by Rev. Kevin Zaborney from Caro, Michigan. Strangely, this day is copyrighted. You can visit the National Hugging Day website here and find more information on this loving holiday.

You can even color a your own National Hugging Day picture here

Resources

http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/January/squirrelappreciation.htm

http://christywisty.tripod.com/info.html

www.coloring.ws/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.coloring.ws/animals/squirrel10.gif

www.coloring.ws/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.coloring.ws/animals/color-squirrel.gif

www.coloring.ws/t.asp?b=m&t=http://www.coloring.ws/animals/squirrel5.gif

http://www.dltk-kids.com/animals/msquirrel.htm

www.dltk-kids.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXcaFC1vF0Q

http://www.skiingsquirrel.com/schedule.htm

http://www.nick.com/all_nick/tv_supersites/characters.jhtml?show_id=spo&character=Sandy

http://www.holidayinsights.com/other/huggingday.htm

http://www.nationalhuggingday.com/Coloring_page.html?1167871175071

http://www.coloring.ws/t_template.asp?t=http://www.coloring.ws/cartoons/sb/35.gif