Friday, December 9, 2011

Hungry Little Squirrel?

Now I get to do something I never thought I'd really be able to do very much. I can now watch one single individual wild animal and know that it's the same one I saw before. The squirrel in my pictures lives right out behind my house.

I've seen several animals before, and been reasonably sure that they were animals that I'd seen on previous occasions, but I was never really quite as sure as this one. I've tracked this little guy right to his home in this tree.

I have to go out there several times a day to refill the wood stove that heats the house, so I have plenty of chances to look over at the tree where my little friend lives. Isabella the dog also keeps a close eye on this tree, and especially the squirrel.

I've now learned to keep my camera close to the door so I can get pictures whenever I go out there. I can't always take it out there with me when I'm busy, but I can keep it close enough to run and get it. So this last time the squirrel was out there Isabella made sure to alert me to its presence.

I quickly ran in and got the camera and came back out to get my pictures. The squirrel had actually come from several trees over on its way back home. I watched as it hopped from the branches of another tree to get to this one.

It became very clear to me that the squirrel was searching for food. It must have been searching in several of the other trees too. I guess food isn't always easy to find, but this hungry little squirrel seemed to be able to find what it wanted in its own tree.

You might have to hop from store to store like this squirrel did to find the best deals on food, but you'll never have to go through all of that to find cheap holidays. All you have to do is click on this link. A holiday in a nice warm place is much better than crawling around through tree branches in the cold.

I guess that's alright if you're a squirrel though. My little squirrel friend gnawed on a few of the branches for a short time and then turned to run on home. It looked like he was looking for food, but maybe he was just sharpening his gnawing teeth or something.

You know, the one thing I forgot was to show you my little squirrel's home in this tree. Four pictures is quite a lot to see in one post, so I think I'll have to show you his home in my next post. Maybe I'll bring you a special extra post tomorrow. that's two in two days! Maybe I'm finally getting the motivation to get back to my normal schedule!

I'll be back tomorrow with the secret home of this hungry little squirrel.

14 comments:

  1. For some reasons, we have lots of different colors squirrel here, and they are menace little critters.

    I don't like them, but always aiming my camera at them :-)

    Great photos, Ratty!

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  2. Enjoyable post Ratty. Hope all is well with you. Have a good weekend.

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  3. @Icy BC
    I'm hoping to find some of the other colored squirrels here too. I agree that squirrels can be scary little guys at times. They try hard to be scary, but they sure do make good photos.
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    @Don't unplug your hub
    Thanks. I hope everything is well with you too.

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  4. They are very enterprising little critters and so entertaining. They become used to the same person who is around...part of the environment. They can get pretty 'cheeky' in more ways than one.

    Thanks for dropping by my other places, Ratty. I was glad you went exploring.

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  5. They will bite the bark when the sap starts to run and then lick the sweet treat. Not sure what they are hoping to get at this time of year.

    Will await the "house"

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  6. the squirrels that were frequenting the tree in my front yard haven't been around since last spring. I kind of miss them, they were fun to watch

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  7. @thepowmill
    I love watching squirrels more than any other animals. Their little personalities are certainly strong ones.

    I was glad I finally did stop by your other blogs. All three are excellent.
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    @Sharkbytes
    That makes perfect sense. It's exactly what this little guy was doing.
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    @Ann
    That's a shame they're gone. Maybe some new ones will move in by next spring.

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  8. I'm glad you have this little guy to watch. He looks real healthy anyway. Have a nice weekend Ratty. We might get some snow tomorrow.

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  9. @Ginnymo
    I'm glad I have him there too. I didn't see any squirrels for the first couple of weeks I was here, and I was wondering if there were any.

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  10. hungry indeed, it is so joyful seeing your action shots of the hungry squirrel. i love seeing them, they are so cute and look at you with such surprise sometimes :)

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  11. @betchai
    Thanks. I think I like taking these pictures of the squirrels more than they do. I always wonder what they're thinking when they see me there.

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  12. Squirrels are the amazing creatures to watch and have fun. The way they move fast and disappear in a puff of smoke fascinates me. And the way it eats its food is more enjoyable. I used to see many naughtu squirrels in my school when i was a kid, but now i hardly get to see one at the place i live.

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  13. Ratty, he is precious. You know I love squirrels. We don't have any that I've seen here in our backyards but plenty in Golden Gate Park and the botanical gardens so I visit them there. I usually bring food for them as well.

    The only thing we get here in our yards are raccoon at night which I really don't like but they are always rummaging for food.

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  14. @Elvirah
    Squirrels may be my favorite wild animal. They seem so intelligent when you really take a look. I hope you get to see more of them.
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    @Poetic Shutterbug
    You've had some of the best squirrel encounters I've read about. And speaking of raccoons, I've got a good raccoon story coming. I wish I could have gotten pictures. They seem like a bigger, maybe more dangerous version of squirrels.

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