Reported Sighting of the "Thought-to-be-Extinct" IPS

Many of my faithful readers know I have been working on a book for several years. The book will be photographs I’ve taken of squirrels over the years. The title of the book has already been decided, Squirrels: Adventures and Shenanigans of Wild Squirrels. I have already written and laid out over 18 pages of the book. I have an outline with the titles of each chapter and content. And, most importantly of all, the cover has been designed and put in place in the publishing software with the printers. But the most awesome thing of all about this book is that it is taking on a life of its own. What I mean is, as I have shared this project with others, they have shared their photographs of squirrels with me. As I have viewed another’s photos I’ve learned the character of that person. Anyone who watches squirrels going to and fro in their yard, picking up nuts, carrying them here and there and burying them not once or twice but as many as three times… IS AS NUTS AS I AM ABOUT SQUIRRELS!

“That is an amazing photo you attached. I need your help on a couple of things in your photo… The white squirrel is closest to the camera, is that correct? Is it a shadow or does it have a brown head?” That’s how the reply e-mail started with a friend who sent me an attached photo of a squirrel yesterday. She told me about the squirrel several weeks ago and invited me over to take a photograph of the white squirrel. Now if you know anything about squirrels, when you want them to do something, they won’t; and when you don’t want them to do something, they will. I could only imagine how it would appear to onlookers if they saw me trying to explain to the police that I was not a “Peeping Tom” but rather someone trying to take photos of a white squirrel at the request of a neighbor. And I would probably be caught crouched down on all fours under a bush of the “Neighborhood Watch” captain’s front yard…

The e-mail continued, “The second squirrel in the photo, does that also have some white on it, or does it appear white because the sun is shining through its tail? If you don’t mind, I would like to venture a guess of what you have in residence in your yard. It is quite rare and if the community or more specific, the National Wildlife Federation were aware of your squirrel in resident you would have news media all over the neighborhood. Sandy (name changed to protect the innocent), you have what is called the ‘Inverted Palomino Squirrel.’ Once thought to be extinct, you may have proof they are, in fact, still in existence! And the squirrel behind the IPS (Inverted Palomino Squirrel) would be the ‘Inverted Inverted Palomino Squirrel which has never been proven to be in existence. And I can assure you that if you call the National Wildlife Federation, local news media or any friends or neighbors and tell them about the IPS or IIPS you will be called “Nuts,” or known as the ‘squirrelly lady down the street’ for the rest of your life.”

Continuing to spread it on thick, “Sorry, Sandy, I just couldn’t resist this opportunity to give you a good laugh. And actually, this would make for a good story to put on my blog and squirrelly book, except the names would be changed. You are such a sweet person and I admire you (I just had to say that in hopes of salvaging our friendship). I hope you enjoyed this ‘funny’ e-mail… Now back to the serious part… “

‘Sandy’s’ photo is an amazing squirrel picture and you can see a snippet of it below. However, to see the fullsize photo you will just have to wait for the publishing of the book to see that. Another thing, Sandy will be given credit for photographing the IPS and IIPS if she is truly brave to do so… I have had other people send me amazing squirrel photos and have decided the focus of the book is not to display my photos but rather to reveal the amazing antics of squirrels; considering that as the focus of the book, if someone has an amazing picture of squirrels I should use their photo rather than try and duplicate it myself. Of course, if someone else’s photo is used, it would be with their permission and they would be given credit as the photographer.

A Tongue Lashing

There are many times I've looked out my window and seen a squirrel sprawled out on a limb. The first time I saw such a sight, it appeared the squirrel had fallen out of the tree and hit the limb and was unconscious. People who have "habitated" with squirrels said they frequently take naps on tree limbs. The first picture I took of a squirrel "sleeping" on a tree limb was published in a calendar (the photo is in the "Published" Gallery on my website). Since the 1st photograph, I've seen many squirrels napping on many limbs on many trees in the yard. Would a squirrel ever fall off the limb while sleeping?

The past couple of days we have unseasonably warm days that have registered over 80 degrees on the thermometer. The leaves are just beginning to appear on the trees which makes it easy to spot all the little furry bodies draped across the limbs. This little fellow pictured below was "zoning in and out." You could see in his eyes that he was spacing it.

I was watching him to try and get a photo with his eyes closed when a bird flew up.

SIDEBAR: The best photo you take may not be the one you planned. When taking pictures with a digital camera, continue to take photos beyond what shot you want and you may get a "diamond in the rough." (I will share some of those in a later blog). Some of the most precious children's pictures were taken after the smile--many a grandma/grandpa will attest to that.

There is a soft place in my heart for birds, so I kept the camera "rolling." The next photo is the result of not putting the camera down too early.

The cardinal is looking directly at the squirrel who is glaring back at the cardinal. What makes it humorous is the squirrel has been startled awake by the bird landing right by him (notice the uplifted back leg of the squirrel). Next, the bird must be chirping quite loudly, which has caught the full attention of the squirrel. This sure could have a storyline, "Wake up you lazy squirrel."

There is a photograph hanging in my office which was taken after the photograph I planned to shoot. That photograph has placed 1st in a number of competitions. It also has received special recognition ribbons besides 1st place. The camera continued to "roll" after the planned shot. If you have a digital camera, you have the luxury of taking photos, reviewing what you have taken and deleting what you don't want... right on the spot. Since you can delete what you don't want, it is not costing you anything to shoot a few extra frames beyond the planned picture... who knows... you may have a photo of a lifetime... or at least that is what the rest of the family would say.

Peek-A-Boo 2 U

Some of you have seen the photo I've taken of the squirrel peeking around the stump of a tree. It looks as though he is playing a game of “Peek-a-boo.”

Yesterday’s photo day in the yard was very rewarding… another peek-a-boo photo was captured digitally… but the subject was not a squirrel. Of all subjects to be playing peek-a-boo—it was a bird; and of all the birds it was one of the bully birds—A Blue jay…



And in yesterday’s Humor Boomer I mentioned a hilarious photo of a squirrel in a precarious position…

I’m not sure what he was looking at but it sure had his interest. We will see that later yesterday, the squirrel got a good talking to because he just is too lazy… all he does is eats and sleeps and chases my dog… Susie. Stay tuned to see who gave him the “tongue lashing.”