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Occasionally we put pieces of bread crust on our deck for whatever critters might like to nibble on it.
This particular Sunday afternoon, this squirrel came to visit at least 3 times. He proceeded to eat all of the bread, but on the first two visits he spent most of his time carrying the pieces of bread to strategic hiding places - under the grill, on the railing, and next to individual fence posts.
Grey squirrel in one of our local parks - Raphael Park, Romford. Always fun to visit with the grandchildren and a bag of peanuts! D500_06521.NEF. Many thanks for views, comments and favourites.
It was so curious. I took this pics with a wide angle lens so you can image how it was closer to me :)
It is from Orlando Downtown park...
The squirrels loved to munch on pinecones to eat the seeds inside. I'd find little piles of hulls were they've been.
Went exploring on my own to test my 400mm and the light wasn't marvellous when i got to my destination but still managed to get this nice shot of a squirrel that was a bit too close.
We've had a lovely Easter day. First of all, we went to watch the Sheffield Egg Run at the Children's Hospital. Then we went to Crookes Valley Park to see the pair of Great Crested Grebes we had heard had been doing the "Dance of Love". I got a few shots but they decided they weren't going to dance whilst I was there! We then went for a gorgeous meal and then onto the Botanical Gardens, where I managed a couple of squirrel shots. Finally we went off to St George's Tower to see the pair of breeding peregrines live instead of on the webcam. One of them was present on the platform, but was it George or was it Mildred?
Yet another squirrel photo from Sheffield Botanical Gardens. This one is foraging about on the ground among some fallen leaves, giving the picture a distinct Autumn look.
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots (including woodchucks), flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa, and have been introduced to Australia. The earliest known squirrels date from the Eocene and are most closely related to the mountain beaver and to the dormouse among living rodent families.
Squirrels breed once or twice a year and give birth to a varying number of young after three to six weeks, depending on species. The young are born naked, toothless, and blind. In most species of squirrel, only the female looks after the young, which are weaned at around six to ten weeks of age and become sexually mature at the end of their first year. Ground-dwelling species are generally social animals, often living in well-developed colonies, but the tree-dwelling species are more solitary.
Ground and tree squirrels are typically diurnal or crepuscular,while flying squirrels tend to be nocturnal—except for lactating flying squirrels and their offspring, which have a period of diurnality during the summer.
Squirrels cannot digest cellulose, so they must rely on foods rich in protein, carbohydrates, and fats. In temperate regions, early spring is the hardest time of year for squirrels, because buried nuts begin to sprout and are no longer available for the squirrel to eat, and new food sources have not become available yet. During these times, squirrels rely heavily on the buds of trees. Squirrels' diets consist primarily of a wide variety of plants, including nuts, seeds, conifer cones, fruits, fungi and green vegetation. However, some squirrels also consume meat, especially when faced with hunger. Squirrels have been known to eat insects, eggs, small birds, young snakes and smaller rodents. Indeed, some tropical species have shifted almost entirely to a diet of insects.
Predatory behavior has been noted by various species of ground squirrels, particularly the thirteen-lined ground squirrel. For example, Bailey, a scientist in the 1920s, observed a thirteen-lined ground squirrel preying upon a young chicken. Wistrand reported seeing this same species eating a freshly killed snake. Whitaker examined the stomachs of 139 thirteen-lined ground squirrels and found bird flesh in four of the specimens and the remains of a short-tailed shrew in one; Bradley, examining white-tailed antelope squirrels' stomachs, found at least 10% of his 609 specimens' stomachs contained some type of vertebrate, mostly lizards and rodents. Morgart observed a white-tailed antelope squirrel capturing and eating a silky pocket mouse.
Some recent squirrel photos.
Now the weather is milder there's more squirrels coming to see me, so no, the foxes have eaten them all, which is good news. I've only seen the fox actual catch one squirrel, the squirrels are really fast movers when they need to be so Foxy and his family don't get it that easy.
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This is one of several squirrels that also enjoys the bird seed. He looked like he wanted his picture taken too!