'Sammy the Squirrel' a.k.a. 'Fat Sam' living and eating well in Wareham

Sammy the Squirrel, or Fat Sam, wasn’t always so plump.

A few years ago, Carol and Ed Maclean started putting corn on the cob out on an old oak tree in the yard of their Royal Crest home in West Wareham to feed the squirrels that lived nearby.

“He started coming around everyday as a small baby,” Ed said. “He has put on some weight.”

According to the Macleans, Sammy still comes around at least every few days to dine on the delicacy provided to him. Other squirrels and the occasional birds come to try the corn, but the post nailed into the oak tree at the Macleans belongs to Sam.

“Sometimes, he’ll come down and eat the whole thing, and sometimes it takes him a few days,” Ed said.

He said he never noticed exactly how heavy Sam was getting until Carol took a picture of him one day, his big white belly barely fitting between man-made perch and corn.

“He is fat,” Ed said. “He’s a chubby guy.”

The Macleans, who are both retired, say friends often come by hoping to get a look at Sammy, who they say lives up in the top of the same tree from which he eats.

“He’s a pleasure to watch and sometimes he makes noises,” Ed said. “I don’t know if it’s when the corn’s getting low, but friends who come over, they always ask how Sammy is doing.”

Though he’s smart enough to eat the corn, Ed said Sammy isn’t the brightest — during the summer, he digs holes throughout the yard searching for acorns he’s buried in the past, bypassing other acorns on the ground in the process.

“He’ll walk by ‘em (the acorns) and find the ones he buried last year and he’s happy,” said Ed. “He’s an odd duck.”

Ironically, the squirrel isn’t the only Sammy living at the Macleans — the couple adopted a black and white tuxedo cat from the Animal Rescue League recently and it was only fitting that he came with the name Sammy.

“Now we have two Sammys,” said Carol.

They said Sammy the cat often perches himself up in a spot in a window nearby, staring him down as he eats from his corncob.

Carol said that with the amount of squirrels in the neighborhood, it’s pointless to have bird feeders because they eat all the bird feed, but having Sammy the Squirrel around fills that void.

“It’s impossible to have bird feeders, so I’m glad we have Sammy,” she said.