California Ground Squirrel
Without a doubt squirrels are the most visible mammals in the forest. Now is their most active time. With acorns dropping from the oaks like big hailstones, the squirrels are in high gear.
Canyon Live Oak Acorns
When I stopped to get a picture of this gray squirrel he really gave me the “stink eye.” He just knew I was coveting his nuts!
Gray Squirrel
The Douglas squirrel is one of our most common tree squirrels in the mountains. They are hyperactive little critters that are difficult to photograph because the won’t quit moving. They make the gray squirrels look lazy. I wasn’t able to get a good picture of one, but fortunately Mary, of Sneaking Bliss, did and let me use it.
Douglas Squirrel
When I was deciding what to post for this Forestry Friday I narrowed it down to two choices. I could cover the relative virtues of area control forest management verses volume control forest management, or perhaps delve into how to calculate mean annual increment for a timber stand and its ramifications in forest management. Unable to decide between these two very compelling subjects I turned for advice to Blitz. Her answer was “woof woof”, which loosely translated means “squirrels squirrels!”
“Calm down Blitz. I told you it’s going to be SQUIRRELS!”
Pen and ink prints available at Fine Art America.
THE FORESTER ARTIST 
ooooh – I do so LOVE squirrels!!!!!
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You and Blitz! 🙂
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🙂 🙂 Give Blitz lots and lots of pats from my for this good performance! 🙂
In the Lake District the grey squirrel seems to be a solid pest. All over you see signs to report them to the authorities. In North Norfolk we also mostly see the grey ones. Thanks for this lovely post!
Have a great weekend
Dina
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You know Dina, they are pretty tasty! Just sayin’.
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We have a couple of squirrels in our yard that use our roof top to get from one tree to the other. I know we will soon be replacing the shingles. Wonder if the insurance covers that. And they aren’t even the pretty brown squirrels but the dingy gray ones. 😦
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Like I told Dina. Those gray squirrel are pretty tasty…just sayin’. 😉
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The second photo is great Tim and I think Blitz is very clever!!
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Thank you. I think Blitz is maybe too clever!
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Beautiful drawing!
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Thank you so much Olivia!
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I love squirrels too. Your drawing is just beautiful!
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Thank you so much Anne!
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Love the sketch, but so funny! Yes, those squirrels are wild with oak nuts aren’t they. We’ve got two huge nests in our trees and a family of at least three, and they are going wild.
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Thank you Mary. I know what you mean. They are absolutely frantic right now. Lucky for them we have a huge acorn crop this year.
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The ground squirrel sketch is a very good one. Your post choice was a doggone good one. The little rodents abound just about everywhere. Mary’s pic of the squirrel is so cute.. It seems you have plenty of squirrel species. Where I live we have just the grey one and I can say that I am not lacking in squirrel antics in my yard. The little fellas are all over thhe place with plenty of nests in the trees. They wreck havoc on the pecan tress though for people that want to harvest any nuts in the fall. My neignhbor traps and releases them at the lake. One week he caught 25 plus in just a few days.
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Twenty-five…holy smokes! I’m thinking squirrel slow cooked in mushroom soup. It’s not bad…just sayin’.
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Yes, if you can bare the thought of eating something that is so fuzzy and furry and cute. Lots of “way out if the sticks’ folks eat squirrel and rabbit but not I. Never could and never will. And my neighbor would never eat them either. Lets them go at the lake but I bet that some of those boogers make their way back. Too bad somebody does not do a project about that: wildlife biolgosts I’m thinking. It’d be interesting to know if some return to where they were born.
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Just have your neighbor start tagging them!
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Right. Maybe he will but probably not since he wuld need a net to catch them from the trap. Don’t think he’d ever go to the trouble for all that but it would be interesting.:-) Thanks for the replies.
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🙂
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Blitz was right on the money! I love seeing squirrels being busy bodies this time of year. And I can’t believe you were going for the nuts – no wonder you got the stink eye!
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You got me! Those nuts are organic you know. I’m not surprised you like the squirrels, since you seem to have the metabolism of a squirrel! 😉
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Hmm…maybe that’s why I have a special spot for the critters?!
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Don’t tell Ted.
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No squirrels in my area, I think they are cute. Sometimes I wonder if they are pests to other people. I think I would spend hours watching their antics if we had some here. Great images.
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Squirrels can be a real pest, but around here mostly the ground squirrels are the little criminals. They chew up everything. The gray squirrels are the clowns, always fun to watch.
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Blitz and Tim,
You make a good duo. Squirrels won out this time.
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I think you mean Blitz won out!
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Blitz got it right. I used to live in So Cal, in a squirrel-populated area. Never quite understood why they were called “ground” squirrels–didn’t seem like they spent too much time there! Enjoyed the sketch, too.
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Years ago I had an Uncle that lived in North Hollywood and his squirrels traveled across the powerlines. For a country boy I thought that was the neatest thing ever.
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They still do that in Chicago, where I also used to live. They think nothing of it, it’s just like their own personal “el” train track.
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Adaptable little critters.
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Beautiful pictures!
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Thank you Marius!
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Fabulous photos Tim, I wish we had squirrels in Australia, I love them!
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Thank you Jennifer! I’ll mail you some. 😉
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Shew, it’s so rare to see a wild squirrel in SA… I think I’ve seen maybe two in my life. However, I did get a great chance to scritch a very cute tame squirrel at our local vet; he loved attention from people and even lifted his little arm so I could hit the right spot with my scratching 🙂
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I would thank any squirrel there would end up as a snack for some hungry critter!
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Great stuff! Squirrels are fun to watch and always busy. We have a couple that romp up and down the power lines in front of our house. They also steal bird seed from our feeders but we forgive them for that.
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They always seem so comical when they raid those bird feeders. We used to give them their own feeder with peanuts in the shell. They absolutely loved them.
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The Stellar Jays like peanuts as well so the fight is on!
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Love it! Magpies like them too.
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Delightful! Also a wonderful squirrel portrait!
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Thank you so much Elena. It is a fun time of year for the squirrel right now. Always fun to watch.
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Ah, squirrel vs dog. Methinks think the squirrels usually win and laugh (or curse) from the trees. Squirrels have a rather bad name around here after the truck incident…….
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The squirrels always win with Blitz, but that doesn’t dampen her enthusiasm! The “truck incident”, that sounds like a story…..curious….hmmmm.
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Four years ago a red squirrel chewed the soy based fuel line insulation on John’s truck. Score: Squirrel 1
Truck 0
Here’s a link to my post on the truck subsequent to the squirrel victory.
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Oh man….bad squirrel! He taunted you!
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I am a fan from her!!!! The lady is right always!!!! KAKAKAKAKAAKAKKAK
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Wow, I think I’m really outnumbered here!
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🙂 🙂
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Wonderful drawing, Tim!
Blessings ~ Wendy
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Thank you Wendy.
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This easterner is enjoying the Doug squirrels so much – we had a great encounter with one recently in the Hoh Rainforest up here – hyperactive is right! And yes, they make gray squirrles look pretty calm. That’s another nice drawing, with the oak leaves and worn tree bark to add dimension.
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Thank you again. I got a great shot of a Douglas squirrel today. I’ll have to use it in the future.
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Great pictures. Thank you.
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Thank you
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