Today we get a look at a busy little squirrel, thanks to our latest Guest Gallery addition.... Joshua Soumis. It looks to be a red squirrel, Tamiasciurus vulgaris, which along with the gray squirrel, is a common sight in the U.P. Often a misunderstood little creature that stirs up many emotions in folks, some good, some bad. Thank goodness we don't have any Ratufa squirrels around. They're only found in Asia and Nepal and can grow up to three feet long!

Great photo of this little creature, busy struggling for survival, and part of the great created order to which we all belong, human and non-human animals alike.

These red squirrels are a nasty bunch,and I understand are not native of the midwest or east, but migragrated from the Rockies.They travel in gangs of males doing their mischief. The will raid the grays nests and eat the babys and kill any grays in the area.They are also know to cause much damage to structures.
The grays are family oriented, are a scatter gatherer and spread there treasuries all over thus are a natural replanter of the forest.

Speaking of squirrels, there is a website in someones backyard in the Nashville Tn. area that focuses on squirrels. The person that runs this site has it set up real cute. YOu can see this at http://www.squirrelcam.com/live.html

Uncle Bud
My Grandfather, Clayton Boroemer, felt the same way about the red squirrels; he sure had a collection of chipmunks and grays that he would feed along with anything else that wandered into the yard. Either way it's a nice picture.

Hope red is watching out for them Pine Martens ! They love these critters for a tasty snack ! Saw a couple Martens while mt. Biking Grand Island and Brunos Run, near Munising last summer. Great trails !

Sheesh...calm down folks....just be glad there is wildlife to be seen other than that which shoots at you, mugs you or cuts you off in traffic on a daily basis like in this cesspool Milwaukee...

I enjoyed ALL wildlife when I lived in Mohawk in the UP...

If there had been actual 'jobs' there I'd STILL be there, enjoying it!

Hey Rick, you live in Nirvania compared to where I work and play -- DETROIT. The wildlife here will eat you for breakfast. We have rats that will mug the squirrels for their nuts and rip the feathers off of gulls just to watch them shivver. Talk about tough -- we got roaches that make periscopes out of discarded McDonald's straws and then swim out on the Detroit River and mug the geese. You gotta be careful when you hunt deer down here cause they carry guns too!

LOL...Downstate Dave....very funny...I lived at Selfridge and spent LOTS of time in Detroit...and was never mugged while sitting in my car like I was here in Milwaukee...

I enjoyed the UP for years and years...the best parts of my life were spent there...I continue to wonder if finding real employment was worth it....

Well, when you feed the birds, the squirrels become quite the challenge. My husband battles red, gray, and black squirrels -- his entertainment is watching the birds, while mine is watching him keep the squirrels away from his feeders! Got him a good book for Christmas, "Outwitting Squirrels"! I'll see if he learns any tips. By the way, Josh, is my nephew. I didn't know he was a professional photographer! Nice work Josh.

i feed the reds during deer season rather friendly cute little buggers arn t they

I have worked in the Cass Corridor of Detroit for almost 30 years and except for one small incident of auto (read van) theft, it is more like a small town than anywhere I have ever lived, including Houghton. (and Chassel and Dollar Bay and Hurontown) In this environment, you have to know everybody so that you know when to unstrap and when not to. I may not like it, but it paid for my little airplane to fly me home to to the Big K occasionally. Rick is correct. If there were real jobs in the big K, it would be a busy place full of appreciative folks. Happy Holidays..........

That looks like a great little critter for the pot, a little a-1 and mighty tastee.

Before anyone gets upset about me eating squirrls, I never have and dont intend to unless it was my only means of nourishment, and da bridge cam is on da fritz again, you know eh.

Hey Rick, I spent time at Selfridge also! I kid about Detroit being bad and mean but I stayed here, by choice, through thick and thin for forty years now. And to Steve,the flying troll; like you say, there are drawbacks to living down here but a lot of us are able to travel to the "big K" bacause of the money we can earn here.
Happy Holidays everyone and keep posting these dynamite pictures!

ON ONE HAND THESE PESTY CRITTERS DO DAMAGE, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND , THEY CUT DOWN BUSHELLS OF PINE CONES FOR MY RE-FORESTATION PROJECT. STILL I
SHOT MANY & THEY KEEP COMMING AROUND. AFTER I CUT DOWN ONE TREE, I ONLY HAVE HALF AS MANY SQUIRRELS.NOW THEY STEAL FOOD FROM THE CHICKENS.

In northern Il we have both gray and red squirrels. A friend of mine feeds them and has told me that the red and grays won't feed together at the feeder at the same time. Alas, one day she saw a red/gray mix squirrel at the feeder...guess two of them didn't know they were suppose to hate one another. Too bad people aren't like that pair of squirrels and can love one another instead of killing each other.

By the way, I am Rick's special friend and he has turned me on to the upper penn.

What about black squirrels? We have bunches here on the Lake MI shoreline.

To Catherine-Holland, Mi. The black squirrels are a color variant of the grey squirrel. There are black (grey) squirrels all over Belle Isle in Detroit. Forty miles away in the suburban farm land you can see red, grey/black and fox squirrels in a good oak/beech wood lot. The red squirrels are fearless. They will "bark" at you when you trespass in their territory. They are the woodland alarm system.

My sisters Mary and Pat had a bad experience with red squirrels. They can be very aggressive and on several occasions it chased them around our yard until they (the squirrels) would get tired and leave them alone. Our parents finally got tired of this and bought me (their older brother a gun). I went out and just killed them and we never had another problem with them again. This worked out well since our Dad was unemployed from the mines. Squirrels are not bad to eat if you cook them right. Me and my sisters still remember those special meals.
My advice to you is to just kill em and eat em.
We did and we turned out alright.

To Billster in Illinois ~ I think it's wrong and very sad that you would kill a defenseless little squirrel. The red squirrels are not aggressive unless they are provoked – like maybe when someone is trying the kill them!! And I’m not sure what you meant exactly by the “not bad if you cook them right” comment, because quite frankly – THEY HAVEN’T GOT A LOT OF MEAT ON THEIR SKINNY LITTLE BODIES TO EAT!?!??!!? So exactly how many of these little creatures did you have to kill to feed your family????

OK, can't resist getting in on this. PAK from IL, in Michigan many people hunt and eat squirrels. I've heard they're very good in the crockpot. I wish more people would eat them so we wouldn't have such a huge population starving out the birds in the winter.

Yo Rachael, I have to agree with you that they are real tasty in a crockpot if you use the right seasonings. And in answer to PAT K, I usually need six or sven to feed a family of four.
PAK, are you some kind of tree hugger or something ???

I just think you all are missing the point. Squirrels are not only warm,cute, fuzzy little animals but can now be considered a safe choice of meat. With all this mad cow stuff going around when was the last time you heard about a mad squirrel alert. I just think we can all appreciate the squirrel and also eat them.
I've eatten them but still respect them.

Ohmigosh, there goes again. By the way, what is a tree hugger? Seems to me like some kind of insult, since everytime I see this term it's connected with negative comments about the person adressed as such. same goes for environmental terrorists, or what ever the term was used on this site (long while ago)for people recognizing that mining has environmental downsides? Am I one by recognizing that oil supply is limited, that there are other ways of driving than big trucks ...

Okay, I think this discussion was about squirrel eating and not about environmental issues! But I have to aggree with Steve on this one. I STILL HUNT SQUIRRELS AND MY FAMILY EATS SQUIRRELS AND WE DRIVE A FORD PICK-UP TRUCK!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Billster, Steve in MN & Bob in Toivola ~ Why can't we all just get along?? While I do not necessarily agree with your decision to eat a squirrel, I do believe that you should have the right to do so. And I also feel that I have the right not to care when you come down with some type of weird squirrel disease. Oh, and Bob in Toivola -- you keep driving your big pick-up truck 'cuz I work for a large oil company and I REALLY appreciate all of the gas your vehicle burns!! In fact, why not buy a couple tree more!!! :-)

Pickup trucks, oil and squirrels????? What the heck does this have to do with the real messages here? Oh and what about the comment of a couple tree more? We may a little different dialect than all of youse guys in other states but thats what makes us so special and why you would access this web site. Hey Dare .......

Just a squirrel trying to get a nut