Squirrels

This isn't quite the order I wanted these pictures in, but I can't figure out how to move them around... So, we'll start with these two:

I went outside one evening to check the mail...there wasn't any but I did find a curious set of tracks in the snow, with a rather deep starting point (most tracks unless made by birds don't have such clear starting points....). This shot is to show you the lack of tracks to the left of the deep imprint:

Whereas this one is a detail shot.

It appears that one of our many squirrels fell out of the tree into the snow. I've seen them fall out plenty of times, but to see the evidence left in the snow was just too much fun to not be photographed.

(This is where I was originally going to start)

Hello! Sorry about the pictures quality on most of these, but they're fast and flighty, so some had to be taken from inside and in others they were on the move.

So, they look cute, right? Happy to be perched on a branch... Or playing tag...

Running down a tree...

Or running up a tree...

Or hanging out among the fallen branches...

Or looking inside stumps for hidden nuts...

They are also happy to amuse the viewer by hanging upside-down from branches and then falling down for lack of a good grip (too quick and unpredictable to photograph but definitely the cutest view...). Occasionally they'll even look in through the back door, curious to see what we're up to.

This summer we witnessed them amusing themselves more than us by knocking down my plants off of the back porch. They'd chew on some, bury nuts in others, and some, just knock off of the porch, often causing the pots to break from the fall, and killing some of the plants by exposing their roots to the summer sun for too long before I realized what had happened and went to save them.

But, now they've done something we had no category for and would never have suspected.... I don't even think you would believe us if we just told you. So, we got pictures. Not very good pictures, but good enough that you can see what's going on.

They're eating our charcoal!!!!!! What?? Why?? Crazy squirrels.

This concludes Epispode 1 of "Squirrel Watch".