Thursday, February 3, 2011

Red Squirrel

It's very difficult to photograph the American Red Squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus. Movement is so quick that there appears to be no in between. I found the easiest way to get a shot is when the little one is busy at work.







And after all that digging, the reward.

5 comments:

  1. Soooo cute! I miss "my" squirrels- our new house sits in a rather large field/clearing which does not entice them; but our old house was surrounded by deep woods- I had squirrels looking in at me through almost every window; drove my dog nuts, and us too when they came inside for visits ($1000 paid out to a professional critter guy who came and sealed up every possible entry point- it lasted only one season before they ate their way back in through another place) but I digress... they constantly charmed me with their antics and made me smile, as does this adorable little guy you have "captured" here!
    ~gretchen

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  2. That is a great sequence of pictures! They are rather rare over here these days-and none in this part of England at all. Plenty of greys, though. I had one feeding on the last of the apples still hanging from the tree a couple of days ago. No snow here-just strong winds today.

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  3. Gretchen, I remember when I saw my first red. It had ripped the filler tab off the top of the feeder and climbed inside. I thought it was a baby gray!

    I've been lucky so far... Unless I count the time a gray crawled up a 4" drainage line and into the cellar.

    Perhaps come spring you can get into some natural plantings and bring the wildlife in?

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  4. Ya Judith, I read a series of articles over the past few years on how the introduced grays are wiping out your reds. I guess the poor little guys don't stand a chance.

    My little friend was repeatably driven off by the 3-6 grays that hang around the feeders, but it simply circles back.

    I just filled the feeders and dumped huge amounts of seed all over the doorstep. Tomorrow I need to stock up on more seed and perhaps some corn as well. I gave them the ornamental ears I used for my painting--disappeared in no time.

    There is so much snow and it is so hard packed and frozen that digging down is not easy. I think my little friends really need a helping hand right about now.

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  5. Oh, and peanuts tomorrow too! The squirrels go wild stashing them all about. The blue jays love 'em too!

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