The Caucasian squirrel - Male - Sciurus anomalus - Taken at North Aegean region - Türkiye

 

 

 

Whenever strong sunlight hits olive branches, BOKEH in background - I don't know how the hours passed in the olive groves this morning. Chasing the Caucasian squirrel requires patience, They don't really go down to the ground unless they need to be fed. Even if I see them on the tree trunk, they disappear very quickly by jumping from tree to tree. They're incredibly quick and like flying acrobats. North Aegean region - Türkiye is full of olive groves and this opportunity also determines their living spaces. They are nesting in the trunks of centuries-old olive trees.

Here is this curious lovely male individual; It has made a home for itself in the hollow of a century-old olive tree with a diameter of 50 cm. The female was not in the nest during the period I watched for over 2 hours. My sudden encounter with a curious and young individual male Caucasian squirrel definitely made my day.

Today I tried to capture different close-up poses without using TC 1.4. It was indeed a different experience for me. The teleconverter sometimes causes loss of clarity and lack of light even though I use a monopod. I think even bokeh is affected.

 

I hope you'll enjoy the my Caucasian Squirrel series as much as I enjoyed taking them.

 

The Caucasian squirrel lives in the hollows of centuries-old olive trees. The number of Caucasian squirrels in the North Aegean region is decreasing every year, noticeably.

Like most red squirrels, spotting a Caucasian Squirrel is definitely becoming a rare sight. Climate change affects nature differently in every corner of the world.

The Caucasian squirrel - Sciurus anomalus ; The Caucasian squirrel or Persian squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus found in temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in south-western Asia.

The species is usually said to have first been described in 1778 by Johann Friedrich Gmelin in the 13th edition of Systema Naturae,and named Sciurus anomalus. However, some authors argue that this work was actually published in 1788, and that the true first description was made by Johann Anton Güldenstädt in 1785.

Description -

Caucasian squirrels are small tree squirrels, with a total length of 32 to 36 cm (13 to 14 in), including the 13 to 18 cm (5.1 to 7.1 in) tail, and weighing 250 to 410 g (8.8 to 14.5 oz). The color of the upper body fur ranges from greyish brown to pale grey, depending on the subspecies, while that of the underparts is rusty brown to yellowish, and that of the tail, yellow brown to deep red. The claws are relatively short, compared with those of other tree squirrels, and females have either eight or ten teats.

Samuel Griswold Goodrich described the Caucasian squirrel in 1885 as "Its color is grayish-brown above, and yellowish-brown below".

 

Physical Description -

Caucasian squirrels have a dental formula of incisors 1/1, canines 0/0, premolars 1/1, and molars 3/3, totaling 20. They have four fingered fore feet and five fingered hind feet. Sex differences in body length or mass are not evident.

Distribution and habitat -

 

Caucasian squirrels are native to south-western Asia, where they are found from Turkey, and the islands of Gökçeada and Lesbos in the west, Iran in the southeast, and as far as Israel and Jordan in the south.It is one of only two species of the genus Sciurus to be found on Mediterranean islands,and, although Eurasian red squirrels have been recently introduced to some areas, is the only species of Sciurus native to the wider region.

The species mainly lives in forested areas dominated by oak, pine, and pistachio, up to altitudes of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft).

 

Biology and behavior -

The squirrels are diurnal, and solitary, although temporary groups may forage where food is plentiful. Their diet includes nuts, seeds, tree shoots, and buds,with the seeds of oak and pine being particularly favored. Like many other squirrels, they cache their food within tree cavities or loose soil, with some larders containing up to 6 kg (13 lb) of seeds. They live in trees, where they make their dens, but frequently forage on the ground, and are considered less arboreal than Eurasian red squirrels. They commonly nest in tree hollows lined with moss and leaves, and located 5 to 14 m (16 to 46 ft) above the ground, but nests are also sometimes found under rocks or tree roots. Their alarm call is high-pitched, and said to resemble the call of the European green woodpecker, and they mark their territories with urine and dung.

Breeding occurs throughout the year, but is more common in spring or autumn. Litters range from two to seven, with three or four being typical, and the young are fully mature by five or six months of age.

 

Conservation -

A survey in 2008 found that the species remained abundant within Turkey, however declines are noted in population within the Levant region. The guides for a survey in 1993 in Israel stated that they considered the species to be nearly extinct within the area studied. Whilst the Caucasian squirrel is threatened by poaching and deforestation, the declines recorded are not sufficient to qualify them as anything other than "Least Concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[1] Hunting of the species is banned by the Central Hunting Commission, and the Caucasian squirrel is protected by the Bern Convention and the EU Habitats Directive.

 

This information is sourced from "Wikipedia".

 

 

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© All rights reserved R.Ertug Please do not use this image without my explicit written permission. Contact me by Flickr mail if you want to buy or use Your comments and critiques are very well appreciated.

 

Lens - hand held or Monopod and definitely SPORT VR on. Aperture is f5.6 and full length. All my images have been converted from RAW to JPEG.

 

I started using Nikon Cross-Body Strap or Monopod on long walks. Here is my Carbon Monopod details : Gitzo GM2542 Series 2 4S Carbon Monopod - Really Right Stuff MH-01 Monopod Head with Standard Lever - Really Right Stuff LCF-11 Replacement Foot for Nikon AF-S 500mm /5.6E PF Lense -

 

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