Hey ThquirrelGirl...

[wwomanC6]

Originally Posted by Sea Six

Looks like it's just finishing up a pine cone.

They eat pine cones?

[OddBall]

Originally Posted by wwomanC6

Last year found one ran over here on the street. Did not see any for a while until a month ago. Know for sure there are at least two in the neighborhood right now. Will not be surprised to find them ran over too. Lots of traffic around here.

Would not be surprised if you have another one show up soon to take its place.

In that particular section of woods, there are at least a dozen; so yeah, his bro's will divvy up the turf.
This is in my neighborhood and not where the horses are at, so there are just squirrels and some rabbits. Even though it's a rural neighborhood, the dogs, cats and cars seem to keep the varmint population down. Out where the horses are at, there are a buh-zillion varmints, along with livestock and other wildlife. I need to get out there and start hiking/riding the trails.

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by wwomanC6

They eat pine cones?

They used to tear up pine cones up at the house I grew up in. They eat the few seeds that are deep inside it. They wind up tearing off all the little pieces of bark that make up the pine done and leave the core, which is what the squirrel is holding in the picture.

[Sea Six]

Here's what the pine cone core looks like after the squirrel has chewed off all the "pine shavings," as we used to call them (they hurt when stepped on barefoot!)

pine cone on left has been chewed up by squirrels taking out pine nuts. - naughtymonkeys' Photos

[wwomanC6]

Originally Posted by OddBall

In that particular section of woods, there are at least a dozen; so yeah, his bro's will divvy up the turf.
This is in my neighborhood and not where the horses are at, so there are just squirrels and some rabbits. Even though it's a rural neighborhood, the dogs, cats and cars seem to keep the varmint population down. Out where the horses are at, there are a buh-zillion varmints, along with livestock and other wildlife. I need to get out there and start hiking/riding the trails.

Good to hear! You will have plenty of subjects (varmints) to hone your picture skills on!

[wwomanC6]

Originally Posted by Sea Six

They used to tear up pine cones up at the house I grew up in. They eat the few seeds that are deep inside it. They wind up tearing off all the little pieces of bark that make up the pine done and leave the core, which is what the squirrel is holding in the picture.

I was going to get some pine cones for my flower beds and winter flower pot decorating on the porch. Might have to rethink that!

[Sea Six]

Originally Posted by wwomanC6

I was going to get some pine cones for my flower beds and winter flower pot decorating on the porch. Might have to rethink that!

If they're old and starting to spread open I don't think they will tear those apart.

I only recall seeing those bright orange pine cone shavings... never the old, gray, weathered pine shavings.

[carlton_fritz]

Originally Posted by wwomanC6

How far away was that taken from, Kelly. Good zoom in I assume!

Great pic bye the way!

I was pretty close to him. Less than 30 feet I would guess.

[wwomanC6]

Originally Posted by Sea Six

If they're old and starting to spread open I don't think they will tear those apart.

I only recall seeing those bright orange pine cone shavings... never the old, gray, weathered pine shavings.

Then I can still use them!

Originally Posted by carlton_fritz

I was pretty close to him. Less than 30 feet I would guess.

Nice shot! Cool you were able to get close! Squirrel must have been hungry!

[JMS32935]

Here's a sequence from a few years back (from 2008).
I was steadying the camera on that railing, and too-tame squirrel came looking to see if I was offering anything...







... I got spooked and jumped-back after that last pic, and so did the beastie.
I'm pleased at how well they turned-out, though.



~

[OddBall]

Those are awesome!

[wwomanC6]

You can just see the curiosity and anticipation in its eyes and body posture!


Squirrel has that "What ya got for me?" look!

[JMS32935]

In 1st pic, see how Squirrel's got his toenails around the edge of the board, in case he needed to make a quick get-away...


Also... look at the wood-grain in the railing where the squirrel is, and you can see how narrow a depth of field I had.
My zoom lens was cranked all they way out to 200mm (which shows how a long lens can also be good for macro-like shots). This was late afternoon when light was getting dimmer, so aperture was fully open. Camera's auto-focus and exposure were setup for "center spot" (which I find good for those kind of shots), but other settings were left up to the camera's program (because my eyesight and reflexes are not good enough to successfully handle manual settings in this kind of situation).
As I already mentioned, I'm pleased with the results.

[wwomanC6]

I took Chip n Dale outside to play fetch. After a few tosses with the ball, Chip ran over to the tree in the front yard and was looking up in the tree. He dropped his ball and keep looking up.

I knew right away a Squirrel must be in the tree. Sure enough, it was there trying to hide. Took me a minute to find him. Only had time to quick grab my cell phone and snap some shots.

Went inside to grab some bird feeder food. As I was filling the feeder, the squirrel jumped out of the tree and took off, with Chip n Dale taking chase.
But the squirrel was long gone before they realized it to give chase.

[73sbVert]

Originally Posted by wwomanC6

You can just see the curiosity and anticipation in its eyes and body posture!


Squirrel has that "What ya got for me?" look!

Yeah, I knew a girl a long time ago with that same look in her eyes! Only she was looking for diamonds and anything expensive instead of 'nuts'!

She didn't stick around long once she realized just how poor an E-5 really is!

[Torqaholic]

Originally Posted by wwomanC6

Any idea what its eating?

Looks like a piece of Staghorn Sumac.

[OddBall]

Originally Posted by wwomanC6

I took Chip n Dale outside to play fetch. After a few tosses with the ball, Chip ran over to the tree in the front yard and was looking up in the tree. He dropped his ball and keep looking up.

I knew right away a Squirrel must be in the tree. Sure enough, it was there trying to hide. Took me a minute to find him. Only had time to quick grab my cell phone and snap some shots.

Went inside to grab some bird feeder food. As I was filling the feeder, the squirrel jumped out of the tree and took off, with Chip n Dale taking chase.
But the squirrel was long gone before they realized it to give chase.

He blended quite nicely. Are there a lot of other trees around?

[wwomanC6]

There are quite a few trees here and there in the neighborhood. I see them quite often in several of my neighbors yards and trees. Even seen him (or her) on roofs to get around neighbor cats and dogs.

My cat has gotten lazy and stopped chasing critters and eating them. Did find a half eaten lizard Friday on the front walkway. Rabbits are eating my strawberries and wild berries.

Oh and my bug eaters are back. Saw three frogs in and around the cats water dishes. Tried to get pics last night, but was too dark.

[Bucwheat]

We have a famly of them messing up the flower boxes and bird feeders,can't chace them of either.

[wwomanC6]

Originally Posted by Bucwheat

We have a famly of them messing up the flower boxes and bird feeders,can't chace them of either.

Have you tried placing moth ball or chunks of Irish Spring soap in areas where you don't want them placing the nut stashes?