The Sneaky Little Red Squirrel

Look what I found spying on me! It's a little red squirrel, one of the cutest varieties of squirrel that ever existed. This is now the third red squirrel I've ever seen; two second was just a short time in the day before I saw this one. The first red squirrel I saw was actually the first squirrel I ever took a picture of, and I saw it three times. All have fun stories. You can read more about that one here and here.

There's also a fun story that goes along with this little guy above. I was just coming back to my truck from one of the many trails in a huge nature park I've been visiting called Island Lake State Recreation Area. The place has a parking lot for each network of trails. You can't travel them all in the same day.

Anyway, there's a tree that's about twenty feet from the edge of the grass, which is where this squirrel was hiding. It was at the base of the tree when I walked by, but I only got a glimpse of him before he scooted right up the side of the tree. I thought maybe I wouldn't get to see him again, but I was in luck today.

I looked up at the tree and began searching the branches for my new little friend. It was a cloudy day, so everything was thrown into shadows. The quality of the light made it hard to find anything if you looked up. It also made any pictures come out dark, even if you were careful.

I saw the little guy, but I wasn't sure if I got a picture of him or not. As soon as I took that first one he scurried behind the tree trunk to the left of him in the picture above. He was gone again, and I thought I wouldn't find him this time, but I still decided that it would be a good idea to walk around the tree for a better look.

I was just in time to see him run right inside a hole on the side of one of the big branches! I tried desperately to get a picture of him while he went in there, but I just wasn't fast enough. Still, I thought this incident might make an amusing story for all of you, so I moved to a better position to take a picture of the entrance to his little home. You might have already guessed what I saw.

Yup! It was the little red squirrel, and he was peering out at me! He was scared of me, but his curiosity got the best of him. Maybe he knew he was probably safe but he still wanted to see what it was that was stalking him. I can understand that. I might do the same thing in that situation.

I took several pictures of him before I finally decided that I had put the poor little critter through enough terror. I don't like scaring animals, but how could I resist getting these pictures. Just look at that precious little face!

 I finally left this little red squirrel to move on to another adventure. Believe me, this wasn't my last that day. I'm seeing so many sights right now that some of them are quickly being left behind. I just can't write about each and every one of them right now. That's why I said I was overwhelmed a few days ago. It's such a good thing to have too much to write about.

This last picture may be a better representation of what I was seeing. The camera did an excellent job of bringing this red squirrel closer for us all to see. Red squirrels are the cutest squirrels I've ever personally seen. Only Douglas squirrels rival the cuteness of the red squirrels. Both look like little stuffed animal toys. Do a web search for pictures of each and tell me which one you think is cuter.

I'll bring you some even better pictures tomorrow of another red squirrel I saw only an hour or two before I saw this one. I also have video of this one that's not only cute, but it's also hilarious. You'll really want to see this one!

Over at Nature Center Magazine today is a story by Copas, one of the best writers there. Copas is doing a series of stories that looks at nature in a different state in the United States every week. These are really informative articles, without being too long. They even give you some good links on where to get state information for yourself. This week he will be featuring Alaska, a veritable wonderland of nature! Please take a look.