Squirrels in mythology and folklore from around the world

A photo I took of a sign Grandpa Ron had hanging on one of his sheds

I'll start with my "why" for this month.

My grandfather - Grandpa Ron - was sick and suffered for several years.

Then last week, he passed away.

While I'm relieved he's no longer in pain, I still wish it didn't have to be this way. I wish he'd never gotten sick, I wish he'd never suffered, I wish he was still here.

And that's why today I wanted to honor him by covering the mythology and folklore surrounding something he loved... squirrels.

Grandpa Ron absolutely adored squirrels. In fact, he adored them so much that he and a few others brought them to the Campbell County WY area decades ago.

Yes, you read that right. Squirrels weren't native to Campbell County back then, but Grandpa got it in his head that the area needed some of the little buggers, and so he spent several years catching them and transporting them over.

Even though Grandpa caught a lot of squirrels in his time, he told me before he died that he'd always wanted to catch a black squirrel specifically. Apparently, he'd never caught one (although he did have a black squirrel plushie).

And so I thought it might be interesting to dive into the stories of old not only to see if there are any stories about squirrels, but also to see if there are any about black squirrels.

Let's take a look at what I found, shall we?

Illustration of the Nornir of Norse mythology with the squirrel Ratatoskr relaying a message above, public domain

There's a squirrel named Ratatoskr in Norse mythology. Ratatoskr runs up and down Yggdrasil, carrying messages between the eagles up top and the serpent down below.

A Cheyenne tribe bedtime story narrates how a ground squirrel and a turtle escape a coyote and a fox who want to eat them. The part of the story with the squirrel reads:

"I'm gonna tell about a squirrel and a turtle.

A squirrel and a turtle were walking along.

They were found by those who eat them. They were caught by them.

'Let's kill them. Let's eat them,' they said.

'Let's see, what do they do?' the squirrel was talked about.

'I dance,' he said. 'Well, dance!' he was told.

He danced. Apparently he was looking for his hole.

When he saw it, he jumped inside."

You can read the whole story here.

"This Thing is Following Me" by Jacopo Werther under this license, unmodified

In a Cherokee myth explaining the origin of disease and medicine, the animals are angry with Man for overpopulating and taking over the earth. Consequently, they decide to put disease into the world for the purpose of killing off humanity.

Ground Squirrel is the only animal who stands up for Man, and the other animals are so enraged by Ground Squirrel speaking out that they tear into his back with their claws, leaving him with noticeable stripes that he still wears to this day.

However, my favorite bit of mythology about squirrels has to be the Hindu story with Lord Rama and Squirrel. Despite Squirrel's small size, she helps Lord Rama cross an ocean, showing that even small efforts can make a big difference.

"Black squirrel in Santa Clara CA" by JaGa under this license, unmodified

Since I mentioned that my grandpa wanted to catch a black squirrel, you're probably wondering whether there are any myths or folktales about the adorable little guys.

Sadly, I couldn't find many stories featuring them (maybe I'm looking in the wrong places). But what I did find is great.

According to the sources I've combed through, it seems that a few parts of Europe considered the black squirrel to be a sign of good luck, and in the Celtic tales of old, the black squirrel is sometimes associated with magic and the otherworld.

Then, in various Indigenous American tribes, black squirrels were said to be messengers of the underworld. So cool, right? (Although I guess what isn't "so cool" is that those cultures also believed if you saw one, it could mean death was on its way. Uh-oh!)

There's also a Choctaw legend that says solar eclipses happen because of a naughty black squirrel eating the sun. I think Grandpa Ron would have liked that one best - he was always up for pranks.

I hope you enjoyed May 2024's favorite folktale!