I have a squirrel for you today that I've been wanting to show you for a little while. It's been raining here so my other pictures lately don't hold much excitement. That doesn't mean this squirrel is only a replacement though. These are some of the best pictures I've ever gotten.A lot of you know of my past wars with crazy angry squirrels, fictional and real. I'm still always on the lookout for my evil nemesis Mr. Nutz. Lately though, for some odd reason I haven't found any new angry squirrels. They all seem to be either frightened or just curious. Maybe they don't want to fight anymore.
While I was walking on the trails recently I found this interesting squirrel standing to the right of the trail up ahead of me. I stopped immediately for pictures, but I expected it to run away. Oddly, it only stood there at the base of a big tree without moving much. It didn't seem afraid of me, but it also didn't seem very interested in me either.
I began to notice that this squirrel seemed to have a quiet dignity about it. It just seemed to be content with its surroundings, and I didn't want to spoil it so I stayed very still. This squirrel had a beauty that most of the others never had.I never knew what it was about this one until I saw the pictures. If you look very close at this squirrel you can tell that it is a mother, and it must have babies somewhere up in one of those trees. I'm glad I wasn't very close to those babies. Then I would have had a fight.
This new mother squirrel did know I was there, but might have been protecting her babies a little bit. She probably was just making sure I didn't get too close. I think she understood that I wasn't much of a threat though, because she never got angry with me at all.She almost seemed to be there to enjoy nature just like I was. She looked at me a few times, but she was also looking at several other things around her too. Her movements were always slow in a calm and confident way. She really only seemed to be having a quiet time to relax.
Here she is in this last one posing against the side of the tree. She seems to be the most graceful squirrel I've ever seen. I really enjoyed watching her. There was no anxiety or nervousness. Just me and another creature observing nature.After a little while this mother squirrel decided I had enough pictures, so she calmly trotted away into the forest. Maybe the squirrel war really is over. Or maybe I just met the best of the squirrels. It could even be both.
So cute!! I love how the mothers of all creatures look after their young. It is endearing to watch in critters and birds.
ReplyDeleteRatty, how to tell a difference between male and female squirrel just by a look?
ReplyDeleteI always wonder how you get these squirrels to post for you....
ReplyDeleteThat was awesome! I couldn't take any picture of squirrels like you..I wanted to take a picture of half-black and half-red fur squirrel to show you, but they came out all blurry..
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your squirrel tale! I enjoy nature and I have an abundance of the gray squirrels and chipmunks...
ReplyDeleteI did not know how you can tell it was a mother initially. My experience on the mother monkey helped.
ReplyDeleteI confirmed once I have enlarged the pictures.
Nice photos of her Ratty. I have lots of mothers around but their babies are out on their own now. I must have about 8 or 10 mother squirrels. Some get a bit ragged from the babies clawing at them. But at least they are well fed and fat. Your squirrels are reddish in color compared to my Grays.
ReplyDeleteShe does look like a mama :) She has that passive and peaceful personality. You are becoming one with these little creatures and I love it.
ReplyDeleteRatty: Maybe she never saw a Ratty before and she had a camera hidden behind her back for her blog.
ReplyDeleteOne never knows :-}
Kallen - Mothers and their babies are some of the most interesting animals to watch in nature.
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Vanilla - Look at this mother squirrel's belly very closely and you will find your answer. You can see where she was feeding her babies.
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Kruel - It's easy, I pay them. :)
Just kidding. It's mostly luck created by the fact that I take so many pictures before I get these good ones.
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Icy BC - I get lots of blurry ones too. I had several blurred pictures of this squirrel. But after a lot of practice, I've developed techniques to keep the blur down.
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Mike - There are a lot more stories where that one came from. Gray squirrels and chipmunks are more very interesting little creatures.
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Rainfield - It's not always easy to see at first. I discovered it by accident after trying to choose the clearest pictures to post.
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Ginnymo - I've probably seen plenty of mothers too, but I don't identify them so easy. I got lucky here. There aren't as many grays here, but these fox squirrels are probably the most plentiful kind here.
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Poetic Shutterbug - I noticed the peacefulness right away, but I didn't know she was a little mother until I saw the pictures. The squirrels do seem to accept me more recently though.
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The Retired One - That could be it! I have pictures of another one that might fit that description even better. Just wait til I tell that story. It's a strange one.
you're lucky to have a special moment with the squirrel, i agree with you, with how the squirrels convey emotions and actions in the picture, this set of pictures is some of your best. Love them.
ReplyDeleteMr. Nutz? I love it! She is a cutie. Glad you got to enjoy the time together.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of "hunting" squirrel. If you ever watch "Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment", they're always killing squirrels! :)
That was a very beautiful squirrel with a nice nature. I just love squirrels and wish we had them in our country.
ReplyDeleteI think that squirrel enjoyed her time with you as much as you did. Glad you shared her with us.
Betchai - This was one of the first where the squirrel showed something much more than just anger at me or anxiety. I liked them a lot because of that too.
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Rene - Mr. Nutz was a huge event around my blog for awhile there. He caused a lot of trouble. I'm glad this squirrel was different.
I've never seen the show. I wonder why they killed them.
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Glennis - Yeah, she did seem to enjoy the whole thing. Maybe she liked having her picture taken. I wouldn't be too surprised with the fancy posing she was doing.