Squirrel Hangout

Sometimes I wonder if I should just make this a squirrel photo blog since squirrels seem to be the only thing I take pictures of. Hopefully though as the weather gets nicer I'll have other subjects.

I enjoyed watching this guy in the tree yesterday. I'm really not quite sure why the squirrels like chewing on the trees so much, but thats the life of a squirrel I guess.



This photo didn't turn out so great since I was getting a reflection off the window, but I rarely get a shot of the blue jay (I think they have ESP and know exactly when I'm going to snap the photo so they leave) that I decided I like it.

Balancing in the Sun

More Deer

Another trip out to see the deer. Part of the forest preserve was closed off from the snow still. Maybe next week it will be open all the way.

Pink

Art is the unceasing effort to compete with the beauty of flowers - and never succeeding. - Gian Carlo Menotti

Green

Taken at Garfield Park Conservatory

Elegance of Fashion also took photos there yesterday.

Help Out Your Furry Friends

For wildlife, snow and cold can mean disaster or opportunity

For squirrels, the blizzard came at a delicate time: the heart of their first mating season, which usually is from the last week of January through the first few weeks of February.

"This is the time of year they're feeling frisky," said Joel Brown, a biological sciences professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Squirrels, like quails, will be most affected by prolonged snow cover and an inability to find their widely dispersed, buried food caches. People can tell squirrels are desperate if they start eating tree bark, Brown said.

Younger, smaller squirrels will die in larger numbers, with those born last fall the first to go in a harsh winter.

"They're young, and they're too late," Brown said. "They get the smallest food caches and have the least body fat and don't have the experience of adults."

Because of the blizzard, squirrel mortality will be more concentrated rather than spread over several weeks.

Squirrels face additional danger when they dig for food in the snow because they are more exposed to predators like hawks and eagles, Brown said.

We Survived Snowtorious B.I.G.

I had intended to write about the Blizzard last week, but I never got around to it. We survived the Blizzard of 2011, and so my animal friends. In fact I was up somewhat early on Wednesday watching the last of the snow blow in and what was out there blow around and the squirrel showed up at my window looking for some breakfast.

I pretty much stayed in for most of the week after the storm, I didn't have anything to go out to do and its hard moving around out there even with pathways shoveled because there is so much snow piled up. And now the cold has really set in, and I really like to stay in as much as I can stand.


Momma Cardinal out looking for some food after the storm.


Before anyone got outside to shovel the snow or dig out their cars.


Coco enjoying the snow