Red Squirrel Pictures

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Red Squirrel Pictures,

Cousin to the common gray squirrel, the red squirrel lives in Great Britain, Canada, and the United States. Like gray squirrels, they have curved claws that allow them to climb and cling to branches. Small, around half the size of a gray squirrel, red squirrels are colored black to red and have a life span of two to three years. Red squirrels are most known for their loud chattering and barking and for their lively mating rituals. The male will chase the female for long periods of time up and down trees and from branch to branch until he finally catches her. With the exception of mating season, though, red squirrels are solitary creatures, living alone in their nests, or dreys. A red squirrel drey is usually a small domed structure built out of twigs and lined with moss, positioned in the branches of trees. Often, a red squirrel will inhabit hollows in trees or abandoned woodpecker nests.

Red Squirrels are uniquely non-territorial. On one hand, this is advantageous within the species, since several squirrels can hunt and graze the same feeding area. These squirrels are primarily herbivorous, dining on fungi, seeds, and berries, but they are known to eat small bird’s eggs and insects also. Red squirrels are facing bleak times in Great Britain, where their spot in the food chain is slowly becoming untenable. Forced to compete with the ever-populous gray squirrel, red squirrels are at a disadvantage. The two species compete for the same food supplies, but gray squirrels are able to digest acorns and red squirrels are not. Thus, the gray squirrels have a fall back diet available if all other supplies are diminished. Also, gray squirrels carry a parapox virus that, though it does not affect them, it is deadly for the red squirrel. Since red squirrels will not breed if subjected to environmental stresses or food shortages, their numbers are beginning to dwindle.

The red squirrel is a fascinating and endearing animal. Photographer Andrew Hardman has expertly captured a series of interesting images of red squirrels in their natural habitat, foraging for food and exploring their world. These images show the tough and enchanting red squirrel in fine detail. Take the time to view our selection of red squirrel pictures, displaying the daily experiences of a common red squirrel, one of the smallest woodland rodents. Here you will see them finding and hiding food, scrambling back and forth from its drey, and taking time to traverse the ground around its tree, usually a coniferous or broad leaf species. This small rodent, though facing stresses in its environment, continues to live and play and chatter as carefree as ever, fighting for its place in the world around it.


James Webb©2005