Rainbow of Squirrels

Yesterday I chanced upon a red squirrel, chattering angrily in a tree in it’s typical red squirrel way, infuriated by my intrusion upon it’s property. There aren’t a whole lot of reds around here – the forests are mostly deciduous, & they prefer pine & spruce forests to oaks, elms, & maples. But once in a while I see one, hiding in the forests by the river – they are shyer than their gray cousins.                                                                                                                    And while there is nothing new about seeing a gray squirrel searching for food under bird feeders, recently I have seen a couple of oddly colored ones. There is a resident albino squirrel, snowy white with bright pink eyes. I see her (or him) frequently enough, but a few days ago there was a black one hanging around, checking out the territory.                                                                                                                                                                                                     So while it seems at times that the variety of squirrels near in my yard will never differ, the truth is that there are probably enough squirrel colors out there to create an entire rainbow.

Squirrel vs. Sparrow

A few days ago, I saw a couple of squirrels were having some kind of argument; they chased each around my yard & up a tree, which had a bird house on it that was home to a family of house sparrows. The squirrels weren’t interested in the chicks as far as I could see, only in chasing each other around & around the tree, but when the squirrel’s disagreement brought them close to the sparrow’s nest, the parents flew out of the bird house, & started dive-bombing the squirrels. The squirrels were startled, & quickly retreated. It was amazing how they wouldn’t stand up to an animal half their size & a fraction of their weight. The sparrows must have pretty sharp beaks.

Here is a video of a bird fighting with a squirrel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2DaaE5PKKs&feature=related

& two squirrels fighting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcHXqvvWj8E&feature=related