Today I want to share some of my favorite pictures of the beggar squirrels that I saw the other day. As I was looking through these pictures I noticed something that didn't really surprise me. There were three different kinds of squirrels there, but the ones that were brave enough to approach me were the fox squirrels.
You may notice that this first squirrel has such a kind and inviting look on his face. Whenever the squirrels would see me come close they would stand up on their hind legs and put on their friendliest faces, hoping I would give them a treat.
Unfortunately, I don't carry squirrel treats with me. I'm not even sure what a squirrel treat might be. I think they're something like Scooby Snacks, but I'm not sure about that. Maybe I could invent them. I wonder how much money a person could make selling Squirrel Treats. Would the big supermarket chains want to sell them? No, I didn't think so either.
This next guy that came up begging for treats seems very proud of himself. Can you guess why? There is a popular picture of a squirrel on the web that I always thought was fake. Now I'm not so sure about that. The sight of this squirrel brought out the humor of a twelve year old boy in me. I'm not sure what else I can say about this big guy.
You might have seen this last one in one of my other posts from the past few days. I didn't show a closeup of him until now though. He didn't seem to care about begging for treats at all. He was content to just lay there relaxing in the grass.
This shows how confident these squirrels are around humans. There are people everywhere in this park, but the squirrels mostly don't run from them at all, or even care. These squirrels seem as tame as cats. Of course, no cat is truly tame, and neither are these squirrels. Cats look at us as friends, not owners. These squirrels are not quite even to that point.
There you are. I hope you enjoyed these squirrels. And I hope I get to go back to that place one day.
Nature Center Magazine- Today we have an all new Free Wallpaper for you. This one is from the shore of Lake Erie. Scenery is my favorite kind of wallpaper.
I told you yesterday about the strange mob of squirrels I found at the riverfront park I visited; a place called Elizabeth Park. This was no isolated thing there. The park is just full of these squirrels. I actually encountered them in several places throughout the park. Today I bring you the squirrels that came after me.
I shouldn't have done it really. I stood there jokingly calling this one above. The consequences were really nothing anyway because he just stood there and ignored me. It was after I gave up that he came for me. And he wasn't alone either! I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.
My old friend Flynn the daring adventurer squirrel has nothing on these guys. He just poses for pictures and rides dogs. Oh, and he took some pictures of me once. I'm still waiting to see those pictures by the way. Maybe he'll be willing to share them with everyone. But these squirrels are like nothing I've ever seen, and they're real.
These squirrels are so fascinating, and the incident was so different that I made sure I captured some of this on high definition video. So I have this new episode of Rat TV for you! This video shows the squirrels literally coming after me, or more precisely, any food I might have.
Watch the way first one then two squirrels come running over to me. They are in stalking mode the whole way. When they begin to get close they veer off towards my right. Believe me, they are very close by then; right in front of me, and too close for me to keep the camera on them. Besides, that was when I decided it was time for me to leave.
This picture is from when the first squirrel began creeping closer. At this point I only thought this was funny. I really didn't think they'd ever be brave enough to come closer. How wrong I was! I have to say that I'm sure the squirrels meant no harm. They were only coming to ask for food. But their actions startled and disturbed me, an everyday adventurer who never saw this type of behavior in a squirrel before.
To be honest, I have seen behavior from a squirrel and some chipmunks that was close. The chipmunks would come right over, and I was a little worried by them as well. They all only wanted food, but they are still wild animals. I don't want to have to fight off, and maybe even inadvertently injure these little guys because they decide to crawl up my leg. I'd like to remain the good guy.
This pair in this last picture are two completely different squirrels than I showed above. The behavior is the same though. They are very aggressive in their search for handouts from humans. They really do try to put on good faces and be on their best behavior when they do this, but their movements are very aggressive.
This can all really be a little scary. I'm not just being oversensitive about this. I've had wild raccoons climb on me before, and they weren't nearly as disturbing. The raccoons were children, These squirrels are adults with adult faces and mannerisms. That might be what changes my attitude a little.
Even so, the bad reaction I had towards them was all my own. My guess is that most people who are used to this behavior find it very cute and harmless. Feeding them is not necessarily wise, but the squirrels are mostly better off for it. It's just the close proximity that concerns me. Mistakes can be made, but I hope they never are. I wish these friendly squirrels well. Watch the video! It's a fun one.
Nature Center Magazine- Copas has the great state of Illinois for you this week. Come on over and see what it has to offer for us nature lovers.
