The last week in December was a very busy week. Many visitors were in town and it seemed most of them were at the Museum. Even with all of the activity, on Saturday (12/31) the Red Wolves were resting, as they often do in the afternoon, at the top of the enclosure and up near the fence. It was an unusually warm afternoon and there was a crowd of viewers at the Wolf Overlook. Late in the day, two Eastern Gray SquirrelsRead more
Posts tagged: #gray squirrel
Gray Squirrel and the Pine Cone
It’s that time of year again when the Eastern Gray Squirrels build their nests and stock up for winter. The one in the following photos is searching the leaf liter along the boardwalk leading down into Explore the Wild in hopes of finding stores for its nest. After a few minutes of striping off some scales and eating a few seeds, it was off to the nest to store the cone for later use during winter. A wise squirrel preparesRead more
Fall
There’s little doubt that fall is here. Warblers and other migrant birds are trickling through, the raccoons, groundhogs, and fox are feeding more heavily, and, as mentioned in a previous post, snakes are moving about more. Here’s just a few more signs of the season before us. And, not necessarily a sign of fall but perhaps a sign of exhaustion towards the summer season… Have we seen this snapper behavior before? That’s all for now.Read more
Gray Squirrel Goes Out on Limb
Having never tasted the little fruit of an elm tree I can’t vouch for its flavor, but each year the squirrels are at it as soon as the fruit forms on the trees. . . . . . . . . . . The fruit is apparently better when still green, like peas or snap beans.Read more
The Fox and the Squirrel
As I stood near the top of the boardwalk, unsuccessfully attempting to photograph a squirrel stripping a pine cone of its seeds (the squirrel kept turning its back to me just as I tripped the shutter) I noticed a reddish-brown and gray colored object quickly move out from under some exposed tree roots to my right. It was a bird, a large, brightly colored sparrow. It was a Fox Sparrow. I hadn’t seen a Fox Sparrow here at the MuseumRead more
Getting Ready for Winter
Of the mammals that reside on the Museum property, two have been conspicuously preparing for the oncoming winter season. They are both members of the same family (Sciuridae) but each has a different life style (one is a tree squirrel, the other a ground squirrel) and they have different strategies of how to cope with the cold. Gray Squirrels cache food away for later use for the times when their fair-weather food items become scarce. During the warmer months they eat roots,Read more