Thought 'Ethan Hunt' one of our resident squirrels would be in hibernation by now (possibly not cold enough). Having topped up the bird feeders yesterday evening, and spilling a few nuts, he's out and about and not having to work that hard to be fed.
This is the classic pose of a squirrel eating his nuts and I couldn't resist sharing it with you
Our squirrels are busy burying next door's bulbs in my lawn. Do squirrels hibernate? We see ours all year round, but we are nearer the equator than you so it's warmer here!!
Squirrels don't hibernate mate. At least they don't round us. In fact we see them more in the winter months than in the summertime. A lovely shot though mate. Very well done 😊
@paul10 Ahhh. Always thought they did (every day is a schoolday) That explains why he so active then.
He must smell the food I put out as I've not seen him for ages - put food out and he's here like a shot. He does make a great subject (I can currently see him hanging upside down gnawing at the nut feeder in one our trees) 😜
@30pics4jackiesdiamond We're stil south of the wall though. Paul has informed me they don't hibernate, so my war with him (protecting the peanuts for the intended recipients (the birds)) can go on through the winter. A war I know I will ultimately lose.
@30pics4jackiesdiamond Ethan Hunt is the character played by Tom Cruise in the Mission Impossible.
We have watched this chap, on the ground, actually measuring the jump from trees to get at the squirrel proof nut feeders (the ones that have a metal sheath that slides down over the nuts if a squirrel climbs down onto it) We've watched 'Ethan' actually move branches out of the way to be able to leap, horizontally, onto the nut cage, below the sliding sheath to eat his fill. He fails, he learns, he measures, he tries again, he suceeds. I move the nut feeder and he measures again and works it out. He's a pest but a genius pest.
I say "squirrel proof nut feeders" (plural) as we used to have 2 of them. One afternoon, I saw what I thought was the metal sheath over one of the nut cages, so knew Ethan had tried and failed to get them. Only to go out and find the nut cage was no longer attached. Not only no longer attached, but not on the lawn directly under it, nor anywhere at all in the back garden, nor the immediate vicinity outside the garden. Ethan had managed to remove the nut cage from the feeder, not spill a single nut and carry it home to his family.
Every time I see him in the garden I mentally salute him, to the Mission Impossible music.
He must smell the food I put out as I've not seen him for ages - put food out and he's here like a shot. He does make a great subject (I can currently see him hanging upside down gnawing at the nut feeder in one our trees) 😜
Thanks for the Fav matey
We have watched this chap, on the ground, actually measuring the jump from trees to get at the squirrel proof nut feeders (the ones that have a metal sheath that slides down over the nuts if a squirrel climbs down onto it) We've watched 'Ethan' actually move branches out of the way to be able to leap, horizontally, onto the nut cage, below the sliding sheath to eat his fill. He fails, he learns, he measures, he tries again, he suceeds. I move the nut feeder and he measures again and works it out. He's a pest but a genius pest.
I say "squirrel proof nut feeders" (plural) as we used to have 2 of them. One afternoon, I saw what I thought was the metal sheath over one of the nut cages, so knew Ethan had tried and failed to get them. Only to go out and find the nut cage was no longer attached. Not only no longer attached, but not on the lawn directly under it, nor anywhere at all in the back garden, nor the immediate vicinity outside the garden. Ethan had managed to remove the nut cage from the feeder, not spill a single nut and carry it home to his family.
Every time I see him in the garden I mentally salute him, to the Mission Impossible music.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/rspb-news/news/details.aspx?id=tcm:9-202877
It will spoil your photo opps.
A friend of ours has the same high opinion of the intelligence of squirrels.