Thursday, September 18, 2008

Not a striped gopher

PhotoStory Friday
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

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A few weeks ago (where is the time going?!) I showed you a cute little Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel I found in Iowa. Well, it wasn’t long after that (yes, I‘m that far behind in looking at my photos - but I figure maybe it‘ll help me get through the long winter of limited photo ops), I found some more in our favorite local park.

These squirrels are about the size of our chipmunks but have smaller ears and more stripes. Would you believe they plug up their holes at night? I still like their other name of Federation Squirrels.

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A couple of days later, I went back to the park and found several babies popping up out of their holes and just generally being curious. They allowed me to sit and snap at them for a while.

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Peek-a-boo!


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It’s hard to believe they can run up to 8 mph.

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They will start hibernating soon, maybe they already have. They’re one of the longest true hibernators in Wisconsin.

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I just love babies!

23 comments:

  1. yes, adorable - so cute - but we have them in our yard - they are ruining our yard - every year - I swear my husband is going to pull what little hair he has left out over these little buggers!

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  2. Those are great shots. I love the straight on shot. The pattern on their coats is very cool.
    Nicely done.

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  3. Those are fantastic shots!! The angles, amazing and those little critters are darlin'.

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  4. Hi, I found your blog on this new directory of WordPress Blogs at blackhatbootcamp.com/listofwordpressblogs. I dont know how your blog came up, must have been a typo, i duno. Anyways, I just clicked it and here I am. Your blog looks good. Have a nice day. James.

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  5. Adorable little critters, love the coloring!

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  6. Those squirrels are too cute! Sure baby ANYTHING is cute, but those guys really are. Wish we had them down here. Much cuter than baby iguanas.

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  7. If you hadn't educated me, I'd have just clumped them in with the chipmunks :-)

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  8. Cute overload! Even more so with those intriguing patterns!
    Great fun shots!
    Cheers, Klaus

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  9. Oh daaang they're so stinking cute. Especially when they're not in our yard. :)

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  10. He's just so darn cute. Even though they can be a nuisance - their cuteness can't be denied!

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  11. Dude, you totally ROCK the wildlife shots. Every one of these could be in my kids' school books...they are fantastic!!!!

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  12. What fantastic pictures and beautiful creatiures! Thank you so much for sharing :-)

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  13. I enjoyed these pictures. So glad there are people to "notice" even the small creatures of nature. These are amazing!

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  14. Those are all great shots, but the third and last are just adorable! Those bright, beady little eyes staring so coyly straight into the camera!

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  15. OMG these are SOOO cute! EXCELLENT captures of them! Really terrific photo series!

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  16. Awww! Those are so cute! I've never seen that kind of squirrel before. We only have the gray squirrels and I've seen black ones in Canada. Excellent pictures.

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  17. Those babies are gorgeous. The pattern of their coats is amazing. Eight mph? That's power walking!

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  18. The cutest thing ever -- other than your grandsons (and my kids too of course!). The new baby is absolutely gorgeous! Congrats again! (I'm just now caught up on this week's entries). I think I missed the fact along the way that you were a Dean Koontz fan, he's my very favorite all time too! I'm behind on reading, still on "The Good Guy." Back in the days when I had a bit of time to myself, a new Dean Koontz book was an all nighter event complete with appetizer foods to get me through the night. By the way, Stephen King is my neighbor -- well, kind of -- he lives close enough to shop at the same grocery store, in the winter anyway. I suppose he still spends the rest of his time in Maine. His house is huge but really very ugly and actually very spooky looking from what I can see of it (Sorry Stevie).
    Have a great weekend Lisa!

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  19. Aww, they're so cute. I didn't know there were squirrels that didn't have bushy tails and live in trees.

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  20. I loved this post (actually I love all your posts)… with the wonderful set of squirrel babies. The Camera Critters participants would go CRAZY over this you know … just because ;--)
    Hugs and blessings,

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  21. Hey Lisa, great shots here!
    I LOVE your style...all of your shots! I like how you edit your photos, but not so much that they lose their natural-ness.
    Did that makes sense? ;-)

    And congrats on your new grandbaby. He's precious! Cole is your grandbaby? I think I read that correctly.

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  22. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww ~ I love these pics!!!!! =) I've never heard of a Ground Squirrel?

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