Just like us humans, squirrels have facial expressions. They smile when they eat and they have look serious when they hear warnings.

One day, I saw this face. One of my balcony squirrels, Summer, did this when she looked relaxed. 

Here is the video of her lazy day:

She looked more angry than happy and relaxed, so I asked my fellow squirrel admirers why this might be:

https://twitter.com/SublimeSquirrel/status/1233512723268489221

Here are the answers:
1. Squirrels do this when they're relaxed.

2. Squirrels do this when they're in pain.

I know that these are contradictory emotions, so you need to figure out which one it is from their posture and context clues.

 3. Squirrels are constantly grinding their teeth when they eat, and they even grind their teeth in their sleep because of growing pains.

The third reason makes sense, but I still can't associate the face Summer made with a feeling of relaxation! Anyway, I'm so happy I found out that she wasn't angry at me.  I guess this is one of the squirrels' relaxed facial expressions and I’ll just have to get used to it! :)

Thank you for reading! Have a squirreltastic day!