A Pair of Squirrel Websites of Note

I would like to give a shout out to a couple of squirrel-related websites that have come to my attention recently.

The first, At the Edge of the Wood, is a blog that documents, through essay and original photography, the wildlife of the author's backyard in Long Island, NY. The author, KC Bailey, uses a remotely triggered camera, an outdoor studio, and some creative set design, and the results, as you can see in the examples below, are stunning.

The second site is called What Will Squirrels Eat, and its subject is exactly what the title implies. The author and her husband, after moving to a wooded area, started experimenting by leaving different foods on their deck, and documented which foods the squirrels ate and which they refused. Every few days a new report is posted, along with photos!

Thanks to the authors of both of these sites for spreading a little more squirreliness across the internet!

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Incredible Flying Squirrel Photos

The UK's Daily Mail newspaper has placed some incredible photographs on its website today of a southern flying squirrel in action. The photos were taken by British photographer Kim Taylor. Here are a couple of samples:

There are several more photos at the article that I linked above, and at Kim Taylor's website.

The southern flying squirrel is native to much of the southeastern United States. Unlike tree squirrels, the flying squirrels are nocturnal. They spend most of the daylight hours tucked away asleep in their nests, which they usually make in a tree cavity. Since they typically emerge only at night, they are hard to see, and even harder to photograph, which makes these pictures all the more impressive.

Beebz Is On Top Of The World!

Actually, she was on top of a bookshelf in the living room this morning.

The back of the bookshelf has a world map design on it. Beebz jumped up there from my shoulder to enjoy a snack.

Prairie Dog Town in Lubbock, TX

Last week we arrived at our new home in Lubbock, Texas. Taking a break from the work of moving in, a few days ago we visited one of the local landmarks, the Prairie Dog Town.

One of the residents

Lubbock's Prairie Dog Town is a large enclosure located in Mackenzie Park, that is the home to hundreds of black-tailed prairie dogs. It was established in the early 1930s by Kennedy N Clapp, a prominent Lubbock resident who was concerned that a government-run poisoning program would drive the black-tailed prairie dog to extinction. As explained on the sign pictured below, Clapp and a friend trapped two pairs of the prairie dogs as the original residents of the town. Mr. Clapp oversaw the operation of the refuge until he died.

In addition to prairie dogs, numerous other animals either live in or frequent the Prairie Dog Town. This is just as true in the wild, where prairie dogs are a "keystone" species whose presence is vital to the plains and prairie ecosystem. The prairie dog's presence is important to many other species, such as the black-footed ferret, which feeds almost exclusively on prairie dogs, and the burrowing owl, which uses abandoned prairie dog burrows for shelter. Burrowing owls are common in the Lubbock area, seen anywhere that prairie dogs are found.

During our visit we saw this 13-lined ground squirrel going about its business....

and this great-tailed grackle surveying the scene from the top of a shelter...

and, of course, many black-tailed prairie dogs!

Squirrel Facts: The Indian Giant Squirrel

The Indian giant squirrel, also called the Malabar giant squirrel, has its name for a very good reason: this is the largest tree squirrel species on earth. It's head and body is about sixteen inches long (compared to around ten inches for an eastern gray squirrel), it's tail can be up to two feet long, and it weighs around 4.4 pounds. This is also one of the world's most beautiful squirrels, having a two or three tone color scheme with shades of black, brown, and beige. Squirrels of this species in different areas of India have different color schemes.

The Indian giant squirrel is very shy and secretive. Despite its size, it is more often heard than seen in the evergreen and mixed deciduous forests of central and southern India where it lives. It generally stays high in the forest canopy, rarely leaving the trees. Using its long tail for stability, this squirrel can leap from tree to tree, covering distances up to twenty feet. When it feels threatened by a predator, such as a leopard or a bird of prey, it will often freeze or press itself against a tree trunk to remain inconspicuous. It may also quietly descend the tree trunk and disappear into the underbrush to get away.

The habits of the Indian giant squirrel are quite similar to those of other tree squirrels such as the eastern gray. They usually live alone or in pairs, and are diurnal (active during the day) and herbivorous. They build large globe-shaped dreys of sticks as high as possible in the trees. A single squirrel will often have two or three nests, with one being reserved specifically for giving birth and nursing the young.

As you can see in the photo above, the tail is probably the most startling and beautiful feature of this squirrel. Longer than it's entire body, the large tail acts as a balance and rudder, allowing the Indian giant squirrel to move about quickly, running and jumping on surprisingly thin branches very high in the forest canopy, where it feels most at home.

Squirrel Facts: The Japenese Dwarf Flying Squirrel: Cuteness Overload!

First, Happy Squirrel Appreciation Day! I wasn't sure how to commemorate this special day. Here are some ideas of things to appreciate about our bushy-tailed friends.

Browsing through a list of world squirrels, I happened upon this little anime character Pokemon flying squirrel.

The momonga, or Japanese dwarf flying squirrel, lives in sub-alpine forests of Japan. It is nocturnal, spending days curled in a red and white ball holes in trees, and at night comes out to eat seeds, fruit, leaves, buds, and bark. Like other flying squirrels, it glides from tree to tree using a membrane stretched between its forelegs and hind legs.

The body is 14-20 cm long, and the tail 10-14 cm long. Wikipedia notes that the Japanese dwarf flying squirrel is much smaller than the Japanese giant flying squirrel, and I thank them for this insight.

The Japanese dwarf flying squirrel is most notable for being scientifically proven to be the cutest thing in the universe. Here are a couple more photos to demonstrate this fact:

Look into my eyes. You are getting sleeeeeeepy. You are
now under my power.

Shopping Center Heron

I saw this great blue heron at a shopping center in Charlotte today. It was sitting on a rail on a foot bridge and didn't seem to mind at all as people walked within just a few feet of it.

New Years Morning Visitor

We had a visitor to our kitchen window this morning. She came to snack on some sunflower seeds and nuts that we put out on the window sill, and took a moment to look in and say hi!

Persian Squirrel Photos (link)

I wanted to post an article about the Persian squirrel, also known as the Caucasian squirrel, which I mentioned in the last post. However, I could find frustratingly little information about this little tree squirrel of the Middle East, beyond a very basic physical description--reddish brown face, tail and belly, and gray back. However, if you go here, you will see four of the best closeup squirrel photos I have ever seen (especially the first and fourth photos), of a Persian squirrel, taken in Turkey earlier this year.

Crows

I happened to run into a couple of friends today outside of Harris Teeter...

Elmwood Cemetery Walk

I took a walk this afternoon at Elmwood Cemetery, which is adjacent to downtown Charlotte. This is a big, old cemetery with graves dating back to the 1800s. It used to be segregated in the old days, with a section for blacks called Pinewood Cemetery toward the back. There are a lot of interesting old graves, plenty of trees, hills, and plenty of birds and squirrels. It's a great place for a walk, especially on a day like today when the weather is good.

Here are some interesting old grave markers:

A couple of squirrels were watching me from overhead:

Squirrel At the Window

This squirrel sometimes comes to our kitchen window sill looking for a bite to eat. We're only too happy to comply. There's a small tear in the screen at the bottom right corner, and we'll often put a little something out through the hole for the squirrels and birds.

Cemetery Walk

I've always liked cemeteries and I love cool, overcast fall days. So today I stopped at Forest Lawn cemetery near our house and took a nice long walk. The day was perfect, the temperature in the high 50s and many of the trees still showing their fall colors.

I like this little display of a wind chime and other hanging decorations that someone has created:

Fall colors:

I also like this monument, with a statue of Jesus washing the feet of the disciples:

And an arbor that a family has had built at their grave site:

Veterans Day was just a couple of days ago. I am proud to be the son of a WWII veteran, and I saw many graves of other WWII veterans decorated with flags:

This cemetery is a wonderful, peaceful place for a walk. I saw and heard many birds, including mockingbirds, robins, blue jays, eastern bluebirds, and crows.  I will definitely be going back.

New Pictures of Beebz!

It's always hard to get good photos of Beebz, because she usually tries to grab the camera as soon as she sees it. But this evening Karen got some good ones of me and Beebz. Here are a few:

Getting a kiss on the eyebrow

It's not what you think... she's watching me wash out her water bowl

Putting her water bowl back