We’ve had some interesting visitors at our farm lately, from foxes, to squirrels of a different color, a number of eagles, too, but those photos weren’t clear enough for sharing, due to the distance away that they were. The healthy looking fox in the first two photos came in quite close, though, so photos were snapped showing that beautiful fur coat and tail. Thankfully, we don’t have any chickens for this guy to be raiding the coup.

Then we spotted this unusual colored squirrel, in the next two shots. From a distance we thought it was a black squirrel, but when it came in closer for lunch at our feeders, we saw the reddish tint to its fur and tail. It really stood out against the snow we still have around our feeders.

We’ve had a number of gray squirrels throughout the winter coming for lunch, too. You can see a tinge of red on this ones head and tail, too. Which makes me think that most of these different colors are variations of the red squirrel. They have been quite plentiful, also, even more than the gray squirrels.

We love feeding the birds and don’t mind the squirrels either, but hopefully they all head to the woods for lunch soon, as we’ve bought more than our share of sun-flower seeds this year and those 50 lb. bags aren’t cheap!

Our last video in the Poe Lock series is standing on the Guard Gates at the lower end of the lock. Special thanks to from Andrea Guerriero over at DRE Designs – Great Lakes Marine Products, for sharing such interesting and informative videos with us this week. It’s not everyday we get to tour the locks this way.

Cool set of pix and another interesting video…thanks for sharing!

On a side…a death was reported on the news that took place in an Escanaba paper mill.

Escanaba Paper Mill Closed-Fungal Infection

Those foxes are so darn cute. Definitely not
something you see every day. My cousin posted a
picture of one that was in her yard a week or so
ago. So cute. Love the squirrels also. There's
nothing like wildlife in your backyard. Thanks for
sharing these.

Sweet conclusion to the Soo Poe Lock tour.

Shocking death and sicknesses at the mill in Escanaba. Did you know that fungi (mushrooms, mold & yeast) are as closely related to animals as they are to plants? About 50% of their DNA is the same as humans. There are estimated more than 2,000,000 fungi species but only 10% have been discovered. Maybe they either help man to survive or they will eventually take over the planet.

That's one of the coolest squirrels I've ever seen~

Growing up in Michigan, I never saw a black squirrel until I moved to here, in northwest Illinois. So I just did a little squirrel research.

Black squirrels are not a unique species but instead a sub-group of the common Grey. There is a species called "American Red" but it is not known for black markings. The Fox Squirrel has a grey body with a red tail and slightly red underbelly markings.

Maybe this guy is a Red squirrel evolving into a Black or the offspring some weird cross breeding?

Great pics Mary!! That second shot is just
fantastic!! We have plenty of squirrels around here,
they used to be predominantly gray but it seems like
mostly black ones around lately. Doesn't matter,
Finn will chase them all, they really tease him
because they know they can get away.
Very informative Lock videos, I really enjoyed them.