Highest Explore Position #148 ~ On March21st 2009.
Red Squirrel – Wildwood, Kent, England – Sunday March 15th 2009.
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OK, seeing as this was the first Red Squirrel I have been able to get a half decent image of, because there are only grey ones around my way, the American invader has driven out their smaller English cousins…:O((
The only place you can see these guys wild in the UK now, are in Scotland and some places Ooooop North..too far away from me anyway..:O((
So anyway why stop at only one shot..lol…so here’s another view of this rare lil British Critter….clearly he likes his food and was keeping a beady eye on me..lol
The Red Squirrels at Wildwood are bred and then released back into the wild, to help replenish their dwindling numbers…so this lil guy could soon be running around free…let’s hope those nasty greys leave him alone..:O))
Anyhoo…tiss Friday..YAHHHH…so the weekend starts here, I’m off to spend the weekend in Colchester and the surrounding area…I’m planning on going to Southwold in Suffolk tomorrow…I want to go on a boat ride to see the seals and…the trip also includes stopping off at a wind farm…which I’m not so keen on..but what the hey..lol
The only trouble is…I gave them a call today and they told me that they need at least 7 people to make the trip viable, with me…there are only SIX!!!!…:O(((
So if anybody is in the Southwold area tomorrow….get down there for 10:30am…because if there are not enough people, the trip is off..:O(((
You wouldn’t want me and the other 5 people booked on it already to miss out now, would you..lol
There are times when being single isn’t always a good thing…If I had a significant other, then there wouldn’t be a problem..Oh well…we will just have to see what transpires…I’m sure there are plenty of other things to do and see if the boat trip doesn’t come off..:O))
UPDATE ~ Just got a call…there’s now enough people…YAHHHHH…Seals here I come…lol..:O))
Sooooooo, enough of my problems…I hope you all have a wonderful rest of today and an awesome Weekend….if I don’t get around to all your wonderful streams this weekend, I’ll try to catch up on Monday when I return…..have a good’n…:O))
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ~ The red squirrel or Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is a species of tree squirrel (genus Sciurus). A tree-dwelling omnivorous rodent, the red squirrel is common throughout Eurasia.
In Great Britain and Ireland, numbers have decreased drastically in recent years, in part because of the introduction of the eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) from North America
Description ~ The red squirrel has a typical head-and-body length of 19 to 23 cm (7.5 to 9 in), a tail length of 15 to 20 cm (5.9 to 7.9 in) and a mass of 250 to 340 g (8.8 to 12 oz). It is not sexually dimorphic, as males and females are the same size. The red squirrel is somewhat smaller than the eastern grey squirrel which has a head-and-body length of 25 to 30 cm (9.5 to 12 in) and weighs between 400 and 800 g (14 oz to 1.8 lb). It is thought that the long tail helps the squirrel to balance and steer when jumping from tree to tree and running along branches and may keep the animal warm during sleep.
The coat of the red squirrel varies in colour with time of year and location. There are several different coat colour morphs ranging from black to red. Red coats are most common in Great Britain; in other parts of Europe and Asia different coat colours co-exist within populations, much like hair colour in some human populations. The underside of the squirrel is always white-cream in colour. The red squirrel sheds its coat twice a year, switching from a thinner summer coat to a thicker, darker winter coat with noticeably larger ear-tufts (a prominent distinguishing feature of this species) between August and November. A lighter, redder overall coat colour, along with the larger ear-tufts (in adults) and much smaller size, distinguish the Eurasian red squirrel from the American eastern grey squirrel.
The red squirrel, like most tree squirrels, has sharp, curved claws to enable it to climb and descend broad tree trunks, thin branches and even house walls. Its strong hind legs enable it to leap gaps between trees.The red squirrel also has the ability to swim.
Cultural and economic significance ~ In Norse mythology, Ratatosk is a red squirrel who runs up and down with messages in the world tree, Yggdrasill, and spreads gossip. In particular, he ferried insults between the eagle Veðrfölnir at the top of Yggdrasill and the dragon Níðhöggr beneath its roots.
The red squirrel used to be widely hunted for its pelt. In Finland squirrel pelts were used as currency in ancient times, before the introduction of coinage. The expression "squirrel pelt" is still widely understood there to be a reference to money.
