Life is Good!

This past Saturday morning as I looked out my window

I couldn't help but smile as one of our friendly squirrels

gorged itself on sunflower seeds at our bird feeders. After

eating its fill I guess it needed to rest abit and what better

place than the fence right near the feeders. After a brief

rest, it gorged a little more on sunflower seeds and rested

again in the same place. Life is good! Ha Ha!

Gray Squirrel  -  Sciurus carolinensis

Some time ago I found a cow skull on a walk in the

woods and brought it home. My daughter couldn't

believe it when I put it in the flower bed right next to

the bird feeders. Quite the tacky addition to the garden

she exclaimed with a bit of disgust in her voice, but

undaunted, I had other ideas in mind. She just happened

to be over when I caught ole lazy boy above rest abit from

sunflower seeds and then go to the skull and horns for a bit

of mineral in the form of calcium. Ahhh! The sweet taste

of educating the younguns about the ways of nature. She

didn't know that members of the rodent family which include

squirrels love to naw on skulls, horns and bones for the

calcium and other minerals that they lack in their diet.

After several more rounds of gnawing a bit of calcium,

rest awhile on the fence routine, ole bushy tail headed

for the trees and kicked back to watch the saturday

afternoon football games with his buddies. Ha Ha!

What a life! Plenty of food, free vitamens, nice safe

places to rest. Life is Good!

"You can't be friends with a squirrel! A squirrel is just a rat with a cuter outfit."

   Sarah Jessica Parker(1965-      ): An American film, television and theater actress and producer

A Wise Ole Buck!

(Photo taken in Oct of 2010 in the mountains of east Tennessee)

If you are going to photograph nature and wildlife, you better be quick to get the shot because often times, you don't get a second chance. I snapped this shot of a nice mature whitetail buck before he went behind a slope and out of site! As bucks get older they get wise to the ways of man and usally become more nocturnal, choosing to move and feed in the relative safety of darkness.   

"I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday."

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) : 16th American President

Opportunity!

                                                                        [ Shot Last Fall ]

This Red Squirrel, aka, Chickaree, Spruce Squirrel, Mountain Squirrel, Pine Squirrel, Boomer and Fairly-Diddle came running through the woods from nowhere and jumped up on this tree trunk giving me an instant opportunity. Just as I got my camera up and snapped this shot it tore off in another direction. Thankfully I was prepared and had this one in focus.

"It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared".

Whitney M. Young, Jr. (1921-1971): American Civil Rights Leader

Getting Attention!

We all need a certain amount of attention, some of us more than others. But sometimes it doesn't pay to draw attention to ones self unless you can handle the consequences! When this Cougar looked directly at me, I wasn't sure I wanted the attention! For some reason, I suddenly felt like dinner. Ha Ha!

I took this shot at the wildlife habitat at Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina.

"To get the attention of a large animal, be it an elephant or a bureaucracy, it helps to know what part of it feels pain. Be very sure, though, that you want its full attention."

Kelvin Throop-Fictional charactor and pseudonym for R.A.J. Phillips(1922-2003): Canadian Author

Dumpster Diving Squirrel ?

Well I pulled up to the park the other day just in time to see this Grey Squirrel go dumpster diving for lunch. Now I know this sounds weird but look at the pics above and see for yourself. I guess this squirrel has just gotten tired of eating acorns everyday or maybe the acorns have all been eaten since there is a rather large population of squirrels in this park. Either way, I was amazed to watch this squirrel  come out with a chicken wing of all things. I was even more amazed as it climbed the nearest tree and gnawed off the rather sauced up meat. It just goes to show what I always say, "That you just never know what you may see in nature!" Sorry the shots are not the best but I pushed the limit of my lens to just get these. While not the best photos, they do represent the rare opportunity to see nature uncensored.

"The peace of nature and of the innocent creatures of God seems to be secure and deep, only so long  as the presence of man and his restless and unquiet spirit are not there to trouble its sanctity."
      Tomas De Quincey (1821-1856): English Author and Intellectual

Armadillo

Well these are not one of my favorite critters but they are one of God's creation. I just don't see why God made some things and this is sure one of those. Ha Ha! So I guess we just have to put up with their digging in our yards and making a passel of doodles and mini potholes all over the place in their search for grubs, worms and other insects.

"If God has created the world, his primary worry was certainly not to make its understanding easy for us."
          Albert Einstein (1879-1955):German born Theoretical Physicists and Nobel Prize Winner



Gray Squirrel

I stopped by a local park today to eat a quick lunch and this little gal came by acting a bit curious, so I threw a few sunflower seeds on the ground and she wasted no time joining me for lunch. This is a gray squirrel but her tail is more red and white than what is the norm for gray squirrels. That being said, it reminded of a squirrel I watched several years ago while sitting in a deer stand about 20 feet up a tree. That squirrel was also very unique and I wrote the following poem while watching him.

The Fox Squirrel

I saw a fox squirrel
So different and unique
It was not head nor body 
Nor was it his feet.

Of people who are different
We label them a thing
But of this fox squirrel
I believe him a king.

Was it age that changed
Him ever so much?
No I believe it was God
Who granted this touch.

No he was not normal
In our sense of the word
But to me he was beautiful
And just then I heard

The scuffling of feet
In leaves down below
He was looking for food
And how did he know

There was acorn under leaves
Fell from a tree
And as he ate it swiftly
He looked happy to me.

He was neither large nor small
And not very strong
But because he was different
Was surely not wrong.

To his enemies he stood out
Like a beacon light,
But to his kind
He was surely a knight.

To ever be cautious
He must not fail
This beautiful fox squirrel
With the solid white tail.
        Randy J. Schultz

Whats Wrong with this Picture?

Just happened to walk by as these two were getting ready to run off with their owners car! Ha Ha! They let me know not to get too close!



"I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed comtempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts."

   John Steinbeck (1902-1968): American Novelist and Writer

Posing for a Handout

Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) also known as Pine Squirrel, North American Red Squirrel and Chickarees. They are very territorial and prefer a diet of seed from conifer cones but eat a variety of things.
On a recent hike up the Rainbow Falls Trail to Mt. LeConte Lodge, I happened upon this Red Squirrel who posed long enough for a few shots. It was obvious he was hoping for a handout of some morsel of food but by the plumpness of his body, I think he is getting well fed by all the hikers that come by his home in the woods.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."
William Shakespheare (1564-1616):  English Playwright and Poet

Who's Checking out Who?

On a recent visit to Fall Creek Falls State Park near Pikeville, TN I happened upon this doe deer. While I was checking her out, she turned and began to check me out. Encounters like this are special when they take place. Always be ready to capture a special moment when the opportunity presents itself. Deer are plentiful in the park and it is not uncommon to see them feeding along the roads or golf course early and late in the day.

"My heart's in the Highlands, my heart is not here; My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing a deer"
Robert Burns (1759-1796):  Scottish Poet: