Are You Crazy? Our Journalist Spent the Day Counting Squirrels in Gorky Park — Here's Why

On a frosty Friday morning, January 30, in Neskuchny Garden in Moscow«s Gorky Park, a squirrel count was held. Anyone could take part, and even in the -15 degree Celsius (5°F) frost, there were many. Among the volunteers was a correspondent from MSK1.RU.

Why count squirrels in the park, who does it, and how to feed them properly — read on in the report.

Why Do People Do This?

Frost and sun, a wonderful day. Why not go to Gorky Park to count squirrels? However, it would have been more difficult if the event had taken place during a snowfall.

Registration for the event — free of charge, of course — opened on the 28th, and almost immediately all spots were taken. I managed to grab a «ticket.»

At the appointed time, I reached the meeting point — Andreevsky Pond. However, I couldn«t orient myself in Neskuchny Garden right away. After asking a leisurely strolling visitor if he knew »where they count squirrels,« I heard a logical response.

«Good heavens! Are you crazy? Why count squirrels? In -15 degrees Celsius (5°F)?» the man exclaimed. His surprise was understandable. But I«m not the timid type.

The squirrel count in Gorky Park, by the way, has been conducted since 2023. Counting them is certainly very difficult: the little creatures have the audacity not to line up under the stern gaze of zoologists. On the contrary, they run, jump, and interfere with this important task.

So, I found passersby who didn«t twirl their finger at their temple when I asked about the squirrel count. Fortunately, they replied, »Yes, we«re also looking for where everyone is gathering.» Together we oriented ourselves and reached the meeting point. We had a pencil with us — the mandatory equipment of a professional counter.

The event was organized by biologists of Neskuchny Garden, Nadezhda Chistyakova and Anna Gerasimova. They met us, gave us a route sheet, observation diary, and clipboard, and conducted a briefing. Our team of three set off. We had an hour to an hour and a half to complete the route.

There are several routes, following the paths of Neskuchny Garden. At some points, the routes of the groups — which were split into teams of 2–4 people — intersect, but there are few such points. The goal of the participants was to walk slowly along the snowy paths and peer into the treetops. Upon spotting a squirrel, we had to make a note in the observation diary. In general, we had to record all events, including reaching points on the route, the distance to the spotted animals, and the direction in which they were found. All this will be needed by the zoologists for the count. This way they will understand exactly where we saw the beauty and whether it«s the same squirrel that other participants saw.

Our «logbook» in the middle of the route looked like this.

At that point, we had encountered only one squirrel, and that one was far away. Even the camera couldn«t capture it. Fortunately, we would soon get lucky and set a record for the number of spotted animals among all groups.

My team — a mother and son, Alena and Valentin.

«We came to count squirrels, take a walk while the weather is so beautiful and sunny, catch a nice day, and spend time together,» explained my teammates.

Our group ended up counting eight gray-red beauties. We were lucky: our route passed by a feeder popular with the animals. Just look at them!

Other groups had varying results: some, like us, found eight, some found three, and some didn«t encounter any. At the end of the event, all participants received a memo about squirrel life and authorial postcards with drawings of plants from Neskuchny Garden by biologist and artist Anna Gerasimova.

Why Count Squirrels

Why all this is necessary was explained by vertebrate zoologist, biologist Nadezhda Chistyakova.

«We count squirrels to monitor their numbers, to understand if they are increasing or decreasing. To plan how many nest boxes to hang, which these animals love so much. To keep a finger on the pulse, which is very relevant in urban conditions,» said biologist Nadezhda Chistyakova.

But why in such frost? The decision to count in winter was not without reason.

«They are well visible on white snow, and on trees without leaves as well. And since we have volunteers doing the counting, we conduct the first count in winter, on the snow cover, while the volunteers are getting used to it,» explained the biologist.

According to her, there are about two hundred squirrels in Gorky Park in total. Sometimes there can be just as many in Neskuchny Garden alone, especially in autumn. But in autumn, they are the hardest to count: the animals blend in with the red leaves.

What If We Saw the Same Squirrel?

The counting methodology is quite interesting. Volunteers walk along routes covering almost the entire park and bring back data: where, when, and how many they saw.

«Then I look at how far apart the routes were, at what time and where the squirrel was detected. And an assessment is made whether this squirrel could have been the same one,» explained biologist Nadezhda Chistyakova.

Only those animals that could definitely not have been counted again are taken into account. If more than one squirrel is in the field of view, they are already different individuals. Then a special calculation with a correction factor gives an approximate number of squirrels per square kilometer.

How to Feed Squirrels Properly

In Neskuchny Garden, squirrels are not afraid of people. You can feed them right from your hand! How to do this was explained by the zoologist.

«When feeding squirrels, extend the food on the tip of your fingers. You don»t need to hold it between your fingers. Just place your hand, fingers straight, hand calm, don«t jerk it. Then you will most likely have a successful contact,» advised the specialist.

But it«s better not to tempt fate — who knows, the little animal might bite! — and feed the beauty from a distance. To do this, just put a nut nearby and wait.

Alas, this time I personally wasn«t lucky. There wasn»t a single squirrel in the squirrel house. Everything was covered in snow, and the fluffy neighbors had hidden away.

The next squirrel «census» will take place in March, and anyone can join that one too.

Updated. The biologists of Neskuchny Garden have tallied the results. It turned out that the volunteers saw 29 individuals — for frosty weather and deep snow, this can be called an excellent result.

Earlier we told the story of a family that has kept birds for three generations.