Nope no squirrels and no antipodean parallels. I have spoken to NZ friends who have also visited the US and they found the same thing - seeing a squirrel emphasises that they were no longer in NZ. Probably 'cos we grew up watching American cartoons that had squirrels in them and we get a bit of a kick out of seeing the non-animated version for real. We have rabbits that are almost as cute but they are not as tame as your squirrels so we don't normally get to see wild rabbits up close. I have so many photos of squirrels, especially of one very obliging little fellow in Colorado Springs who let me get up quite close before scrabbling part way up a pole and glaring down at me - I think it was put out because I didn't give it something to eat. Now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing squirrels in your town.