Friday, October 1, 2010

Albert Squirrel...

This critter is called an Albert Squirrel, I would liked to have shown you a live one but I never encountered one on our recent vacation. The Albert Squirrel is native to the south rim of the Grand Canyon and surrounding area . They are not found any other place in the world. That alone made me want to photograph one more than anything and we tried. We talked to employees and rangers on places to find them. We went for walks in those areas and spent time driving around just to find one but it never happened. These squirrels are large about 20 inches including the tail, they have tasseled ears and a grey tail with white underneath. These squirrels differ from others as they do not hibernate in the winter or hide their food but continue to forage all winter. The feast on ponderosa pine seeds, inner tree bark and summer mushrooms. Not finding any I was forced to photograph a stuffed one behind glass in the visitors center.

3 comments:

Sparky said...

I like squirrels. When I first seen this picture, I thought Brad got a great shoot. Then I read the article. Still good work on the site Brad.

RIZALENIO said...

Hope you will find living squirrels to photograph soon. Nice photo anyway. :)

Willard said...

An amazing photograph it looks like it is really alive. I had not heard of this species before.

I really enjoyed the elk photography last week too and hope to see some of your photos soon.