Tuesday 5 February 2008

Squirrelled Away

This little chap was busy hunting around under the trees in Pitville Park for the goodies he squirrelled away last Autumn. In the time I was watching and photographing him he didn't come up with anything, though he looked determined to find something! The Grey Squirrel is common all over Britain but the Red Squirrel less so. The only Red Squirrel I've ever seen was here, in Pitville Park, when I was a young boy. I was with my mum, playing in the park, when we spotted him doing the same thing as the one shown. Gingerly we moved closer and, as he saw us, he scampered away so we followed from a distance. We kept sight of him for quite a while until he leapt up a tree and vanished out of view. I can still remember the striking colour of that Red Squirrel and its a shame that they are all but extinct here in Britain.

9 comments:

Dorothée said...

I don't think I ever seen a red squirrel. Indeed we also have grey squirrel around here, and also black squirrels (they are rare though). This week-end I saw onbe for the first time since I've been living here.
Quite untammed animal indeed!

MJ said...

Awww..what a cute little chubby one we have here..

The squirrels we have here are mostly brown or grey and quite skinny too.

brian stout said...

very nice photo and story... the colors are strange with the red and gray in the fur...

Anonymous said...

The gray take on a red tinge in the Autumn. Camouflage I think, Great photo.

Janet said...

He looks fairly fat, so the food must be good!

edwin s said...

ooh, a red squirrel. aren't they endangered?

you were lucky to see one. like you said, extinct.

Gerald (SK14) said...

gray squirrels often have some red colouring in them which fools people sometimes.

Lori said...

Aw, he's cute! We have lots of grey squirrels here in the park. I've seen a few black ones too, but I don't think I've ever seen a red one. My parents used to have flying squirrels in their attic!

Neva said...

Seems like a lot of birds are going away from your neck of the woods as well.....love your squirrel.

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