From fans to fruit: TX woman opens backyard ‘squirrel resort' to help cool off critters

The 'dog days of summer' are getting near in Texas, but one New Braunfels woman doesn't think of them as 'dog days.'

"We have our squirrel resort," Breyana Elwell said sitting on her porch.

It started last summer, in the middle of a Texas drought and heatwave, when Elwell put out a fan on the porch rail to help her family keep the heat and flies away.

"I peeked through the window and a little squirrel was 'splooting' right in front of it," Elwell said. That got her thinking.

"I took action," Elwell said. "Rummaged through our freezer and got some fresh fruits and some water and some nuts I ordered online."

She set out the squirrel buffet on her porch with a few fans.

"There would be only one squirrel at a time usually on the porch. Then it turned into two. Then it turned into three," Elwell said. "Once I saw six, I was like, we need to relocate them."

The Elwells took a downed tree and created a squirrel highway between trees in their backyard, then they added fans, food and fun.

Splooting squirrels spotted around North Texas

"My husband probably thinks I'm crazy, but he's the one who built it for me," Elwell said. "It's become almost like a job, but it's not a job because it's a hobby for me and I love it so much!"

"It's not necessarily about the squirrels because my phobia is actually rats and mice, and if you really look at a squirrel, it's really a fancy rat," Elwell said. "I think it's just my heart. I would help anything."

Elwell occasionally posts what's happening at her backyard 'squirrel resort' on Instagram and TikTok.

"I just can't wait to see what they do next," Elwell said.

Get updates on what's happening in North Texas to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.