14 Comments

1. Ukwildlife January 7, 2009 at 11:01 pm #

   great photos. I tried to get some squirrels in the snow shots on Monday, but the smart rodents decided to stay in their warm dreys, cheeky so and sos!

2. ForestFloor January 8, 2009 at 12:01 am #

   Awwww, what lovely photos and such a sweet squirrel :happy: Are these the North American squirrels? I seem to recall that Britain only has the grey colouring, which seems odd because here there are frequently greys, blacks and shades in between within the same litter! :confused:

3. Words January 8, 2009 at 12:01 am #

   Christine, yes these are the North American invaders. They're the only ones we now have in the South of England, and our native reds are struggling to survive elsewhere. The greys are larger and carry the squirrelpox virus. Greys are immune but the reds have been almost wiped out. We occasionally get black or white variants, though I've not seen either. The best photos I've seen of red squirrels are these by Kevin Lewis, a great wildlife photographer.

4. Words January 8, 2009 at 12:01 am #

   Yes, they like to keep warm. The one in the first two shots was going back and forth gathering leaves for the drey.

5. gdare January 8, 2009 at 5:01 am #

   Squirrels we have here are only red ones, and I think they are smaller than this one. Never seen Nort American ones here.

6. Flying Red Fox Blog January 8, 2009 at 6:01 am #

   Very nice series 😀 I wonder if they are feeling the cold so much they might hibernate?

7. Words January 8, 2009 at 7:01 am #

   Mark, I doubt these will hibernate, though the one on the last shot was looking a bit cold.

8. Words January 8, 2009 at 7:01 am #

   Darko, we have lots of problems caused by the greys. You're lucky to have reds.

9. SittingFox January 8, 2009 at 9:01 am #

   Great shots Words! It's nice to see squirrels like this. Most of my sightings lately have been seeing particularly plump specimens eating the yellowhammers' food :rolleyes:

10. cakkleberrylane January 8, 2009 at 1:01 pm #

    Great series! The second shot has such a wondrful artistic quality!

11. Words January 8, 2009 at 6:01 pm #

    Lois, thanks. I was happy with the second shot, but my personal fave is the first one.

12. Words January 8, 2009 at 6:01 pm #

    Adele, these ones are in the middle of the campus and are a touch more confident than the usual woodland ones I see. Still not a touch on London squirrels for sheer greed. There are several dreys so I'll try to keep an eye out in the spring for the young.

13. Cynthia23 January 11, 2009 at 5:01 pm #

    OH! hahahahaa really giggling! Great photos, Words! :up:

14. Words January 11, 2009 at 6:01 pm #

    Thanks!