They may be unlikely friends, but they simply love one another. Oliver the Labrador retriever and Helen the squirrel meet every day to check in, say hello, and stare interestedly at each other.
“I spend all day with my dogs and for a better part of that day there’s a squirrel that comes to hang out with us and be part of the family,” said Tricia Roberts, who lives in South Florida.
Working from home, Ms. Roberts, 47, started seeing Helen the squirrel five years ago. After moving into the house in 2017, she noticed curious squirrels coming up to the window and looking in. One, in particular, had a little cut in its ear, making it easy to recognize.
Ms. Roberts named it Helen, and it would return again and again.
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Ms. Roberts’s other dog, a rescue called Brodie, would bark when Helen approached but wasn’t too interested in her otherwise. For her part, Helen didn’t seem scared by the noise. Later, when Oliver arrived as a puppy, he reacted completely calmly to her presence.
“Oliver just kind of looked at her; he didn’t bark or seem to want to chase her,” Ms. Roberts said.
Now Helen shows up at least once a day; sometimes two or three times a day. “She’s there in the morning,” Ms. Roberts said, “and then she comes back around late afternoon, especially this time of year when it’s really hot in the middle of the day.”
According to Ms. Roberts, Helen will come running up when she takes Oliver out for a walk. The furry creature will also run up her leg to take a peanut. Their adorable, and unusual, connection has inspired Ms. Roberts to work on a children’s book about a dog and a squirrel. She also wrote an extremely catchy song, Oliver and Helen, and will sit at her piano playing the tune and singing it.
“It seemed like if anyone deserved a song, it was Oliver and Helen,” she said. “People seem to like it … and Helen comes to the window a lot when she hears the piano.”
Watch the video:
(Courtesy of Tricia Roberts)
At first, the young Oliver had other things to occupy his attention and would mostly ignore the visiting squirrel. But over time, he started to look for her.
“He’ll sort of prop himself up on the window and stand up and look out,” Ms. Roberts said.
When Helen comes bounding up the path, she’ll then run from window to window, fascinated by what’s happening inside and by 2-year-old Oliver sitting on his favorite wooden chair. Now and then, the handsome dog will turn his back on the perky squirrel, but the pair will stay in close quarters.
“They’re not too active—they just like to sit there and chill,” Ms. Roberts said.
Ms. Roberts says she feels lucky to have such a good dog and enjoys seeing their sweet interaction.
“It makes me feel good that we could foster that kind of relationship. It’s not just through the window either; they’ve also met outside, and they just kind of do the same thing,” she said.
One time out in the backyard, Helen was in a tree and Oliver spotted her. He just walked up to the tree and looked at her. “She got closer and closer to him and just looked at him, too,” Ms. Roberts said. “He didn’t try to chase her, and she didn’t run off.”
Videos of Ms. Roberts, Oliver, and Helen have been viewed over a million times on YouTube. To the delight of Oliver and his social media followers, one day, proud as can be, Helen the squirrel turned up with a new additional visitor: her baby squirrel.
After all, she is part of the family, Ms. Roberts says. “She’s been here for every holiday, every major occasion. It’s great.”