"JUST BE CAREFUL OUT THERE"

Red Squirrel - 7 Photos

A little intermission from coyote blogs, although "coyote" will turn up in this blog.

I hadn't seen this little red squirrel for a week or so. It visits a very large fir tree, near where I like to sit & watch for wildlife. The tree has an extremely large bottom bough which covers a large circular area with soft earth, protected for the most part from snow and is a favourite place for the squirrel to use as a pantry for winter stores.

On my most recent visits, I have seen squirrel tracks around the outside of the tree bough where a thin layer of snow had settled. In and on top of the squirrel tracks, were coyote tracks and indeed there was a path from the tree into the woods, which the coyote had used (going by its tracks).

So one would start to wonder. At this point, I would like to go on record that I do not choose "sides" in the natural world. I am not on "Team Squirrel" nor am I on "Team Coyote" and remain completely neutral in how things play out in Nature. Every animal has to eat to survive whether it be prey or predator. And it depends on the day and the skills of mammal/bird what the outcome will be.

But then along came Red, who obviously needed to seriously use some of its hidden stores. And because the squirrel was so involved in eating (what I believe to be pine cones), it made multiple trips to the tree. It would then sit for longer periods on tree branches happily munching away. 

This allowed for some opportunities to capture this adorable little red rodent, who I may add has a gorgeous thick coat & appears very healthy. Although, having reviewed the photos, there is one shot where if the subject was a person, you may think might be demonstrating a somewhat rude gesture (Photo #7 ). Perhaps, I and the camera had worn out our welcome! :)

My last words to this little Red Squirrel is "just be careful out there". You're not the only one checking the pantry but I am sure you already know that.

PHOTO #1

PHOTO #2

PHOTO #3

PHOTO #4

PHOTO #5

PHOTO #6

PHOTO #7 - Could this be a squirrel giving "the paw"! :)