Nuthouse - A Comic Strip with Squirrels by Brad Parnell.

People have varied reactions to the little buggers. Animal lovers enjoy watching them run around, climb trees, eat nuts and perform high-wire acts across the telephone lines. Bird watchers get miffed at their devious techniques to get at 'squirrel-proof' bird feeders. Like them or not, squirrels are everywhere. There are very few communities in North America that are squirreless. And yet, the newspapers are almost completely lacking in comic strip squirrels. That will change if I have anything to do with it.

The main idea for this strip is the fish out of water scenario. The main character, a squirrel called Sixby (6B), is a product of a college testing lab. He is freed into a small wooded area in the suburbs and is thus displaced into a world that is totally new to him. No longer fed on regular schedules and unable to cope with the unknown by himself, he finds himself clinging to one of the first squirrels he meets, Nick. Nick is a suave, cool and collected squirrel. He's the guy who always knows what's going on. Nick takes it upon himself to show Sixby the ropes as it were. Nick teaches Sixby how to get food and explains the (new) world to him.

Among the other characters that inhabit the strip are Stumpy and Billy. Stumpy is a bit of a risk taker as can be seen by the fact that his tail is half gone causing him to not be as well balanced (both figuratively and literally) as the other squirrels. He is constantly getting into trouble and dragging the others with him. He is also responsible for teaching Sixby all the 'wrong' things to do. And he is actually based on a real squirrel that I observed during 2001. Billy is a little boy who absolutely loves squirrels. He's the type that loves all cute little furry creatures and is never happier than when he is cuddling them. He can be seen feeding the squirrels that keep their distance from Billy and all humans.

Two characters that stay in the lab are a couple of test rats named Buddy and Holly. Buddy is always trying to find ways to make life in the lab more bearable while Holly, his female counterpart is more philosophical and looks at the world through more serious eyes than Buddy. Together they muddle through the trials and tribulations of animal testing.

The ideas for this strip have been simmering around since the early 90's. The characters took form in late 2001. Finally an opportunity arose to force me into putting them on paper when the Kentucky Pet Gazette came into being. Originally presented in this monthly paper (June 2003), Nuthouse is now available on this Web site in a weekly format (including many unpublished strips).