sciurus vulgaris

there are a lot of hazels around at the shack, therefore there are bound to be a lot of sciurus vulgaris /squirrel as well. the dog doesn't much care for them, the little buggers jump right above his doghouse and wake him up, so no wonder. i should also point out that the scream-like yelping, that the dog produces when one of these buggers come close, is something out of a horror movie

there is a drey in an old spruce tree, besides the mother there are 4 young ones. we were on the deck week ago saturday when all four youngs were doing what young ones of all species usually do, playing around. it was a lot of fun, eventhough there were 2 thumps... not sure if it was the same one on both times that fell down. it seemed to be fine, climbed right back up







they were all over the branches







it was impossible to get all four of them in one shot, but i got three here







move over!







aren't they cute?






i'm aware that squirrels are considered to be pests, but they've been no trouble here. well, except for the dog. i think there is plenty of hazelnuts for them to eat so they don't have to go on scavenger hunts inside the buildings. hmm, now that i think of it, there was one troubled juvenile that got under the hood of my car... this pic appeared on may 2 entry, but i'll post it here as well