Squirrel Appreciation Day 2023

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day around the globe. Love them, or hate them, there is no denying that squirrels are fun, fascinating, beguiling, fuzzy creatures!

Dozing Uinta Ground Squirrel

People often complain about the well known Eastern Gray Squirrels because they raid bird feeders and can make quite a mess.

But did you know… That there are more than 65 squirrel species that live in North America? The squirrel family includes tree, flying, and ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, groundhogs, and prairie dogs.

I always enjoy having members of the squirrel family in my viewfinder. From the diminutive Least Chipmunks to the much larger Yellow-bellied Marmots, they make me smile, laugh and they enchant me. I can’t and don’t want to resist photographing them.

Uinta Ground Squirrels are one of the members of the squirrel family that I photograph most often when they are above ground for a few months of the year.

Last spring I took photos of this adult Uinta Ground Squirrel while showing my good friend and fellow photographer, Steve, around the Wasatch Mountains. We had a great time photographing adult and baby Uinta Ground Squirrels as we explored the mountains together.

Uinta Ground Squirrel thoughts

I played around with the image and tried to think like a ground squirrel would if they saw me aiming my lens at them. I bet the squirrel didn’t mind me, Steve, and my Jeep at all because it stayed put and didn’t disappear before I turned off my engine. Sometimes it is simply fun for me to add a little bit of humor to my photos. Ask anyone who knows me well and they will tell that I absolutely love to laugh. My sense of humor? Well, sometimes you have to know me to “get” it.

I’ve seen and photographed several species of squirrels and would love to photograph more of them. This won’t be my first or last time that I say that I’m a little nutty about squirrels. I am and hope to be for a long time.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my mammal photos.