Tuesday, April 28, 2009

For Merinz: Red Squirrel à la Grand Tetons

Here's what we mean when we say "red squirrel" (as opposed to the cute, Euro-style, tufty-eared eeckhoorn, below) in the U.S. This one's clearly a mama, and she held and devoured the pine cone like corn on the cob, but amazingly quickly. She was really fun to watch from the front porch of my little cabin at Signal Mountain Lodge, GTNP.

To my knowledge the only squirrel in the U.S. (and possibly, all of North America) that has significant tufts of fur on its ears is the Kaibab squirrel. I hope some day to visit the north rim of the Grand Canyon again and to get lucky enough to photograph one of these distinct black-furred squirrels
.

Click on the image to get a good enlargement of the triptych.


2 comments:

  1. Thank you for the beautiful pics!

    I first fell in love with squirrels at Vancouver's Stanley Park when I had barely stepped off the boat! My friend and I were immigrating to Canada with the idea of just working there for a year, then moving on to Europe. She is still there! But in Williams lake, BC.

    I moved on, then home to our squirrel free country.

    But I have always retained a fascination with squirrels.

    http://greyandred.blogspot.com/

    This is a good squirrel site to visit.

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  2. I loved the postcards. Me and grey squirrels are not the best friends though.

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