I caught this gray squirrel lying down on the job in Explore the Wild.

I don’t think that our tired little tree squirrel has yet begun to build a nest or store away food. Although I have seen a few signs of other squirrels having buried acorns and other nuts, I think this squirrel is just resting between meals. The cold temperatures upon us now, though, may help stimulate this guy into stocking the shelves.

Speaking of squirrels and eating, I was finally able to get a shot of one of our ground squirrels. The groundhog was out on the grass storing food for winter, in the form of fat applied to its body, that is. I’ve been seeing groundhogs for more than a few weeks feeding alongside the paths here at the Museum, but I’ve only gotten a glimpse of their posterior ends as they fled my approach. Most of the hogs have been young hogs, which may explain their wariness.

In the past our groundhogs have been quite brazen, coming out to feed in front of passing school groups and families who stop to watch and enjoy the show. Perhaps that generation of groundhogs has passed, and this is the new.

It won’t be long before the groundhogs disappear altogether, retreating to their underground burrows to hibernate.