Red Squirrel caught red handed
I caught this Red Squirrel red handed invading one of my bird feeders. This little guy has a home further back on my Caledon property but occasionally comes around to raid the bird feeds.
Red Squirrel’s actually known as the American Red Squirrel is one of two species of tree squirrel currently classified in the genus Tamiasciurus and known as pine squirrels. It is a medium sized (200–250 g) diurnal mammal that defends a year-round exclusive territory. The diet of these tree squirrels is specialized on the seeds of conifer cones. As such, they are widely distributed across North America wherever conifers are common, except on the Pacific coasts where they are replaced by Douglas Squirrels. Recently, American Red Squirrels have been expanding their range to include primarily hardwood areas. For more info on the American Red Squirrel click here.
I took this picture with my new zoom lens I recently bought, a Sigma 50-500mm lens which is actually 1000mm max focal length equivilant under the 35mm film standard. For a larger picture click on the image above.
Posted: November 21st, 2010 under Caledon, Photos, Wildlife.
Tags: American Red Squirrel, Caledon, ontario, Photos, Red Squirrel, squirrel, Wildlife
Comments
Comment from Bob Hilscher
Time November 21, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Hi there. Great picture, fortunately we only deal with Grey squirrels. I live in Toronto, and earlier this year, my wife, Jean, and I were in Ireland where we came upon the rarely seen Red Squirrel. To us, they actually look somewhat like our Canadian Red squirrels, but boy, do they have long ears! We were shocked to learn that U.K. and Irish Red squirrels are contracting the pox virus from Grey squirrels, and dying. We have far to many Grey squirrels here at our feeders. But up north near Algonquin Park we have seen a few Red squirrels. We feel very lucky to have seen two Red squirrels in Ireland. We have posted some of our pictures and video of our Red squirrel sightings in Ireland, and Canada for anyone interested at: http://frametoframe.ca/photo-essay-red-grey-squirrels-canada-ireland
Comment from Enda McLarnon
Time December 27, 2010 at 5:57 pm
First up, that must be a great camera. As a bird lover, squirrels are a complete and utter pest. There are a number of ways of defeating these little chaps and keeping them away from the feeders. You can buy special ones and you can also make your own.