{"id":109753,"date":"2023-01-21T03:24:50","date_gmt":"2023-01-21T10:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=109753"},"modified":"2023-01-21T03:29:03","modified_gmt":"2023-01-21T10:29:03","slug":"squirrel-appreciation-day-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/21\/squirrel-appreciation-day-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Squirrel Appreciation Day 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day<\/span><\/a> around the globe. Love them, or hate them, there is no denying that squirrels are fun, fascinating, beguiling, fuzzy creatures!<\/p>\n

\"DozingDozing Uinta Ground Squirrel<\/span><\/p>\n

People often complain about the well known Eastern Gray Squirrels because they raid bird feeders and can make quite a mess.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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

\"UintaUinta Ground Squirrel thoughts<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my mammal photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day around the globe. Love them, or hate them, there is no denying that they are fun, fascinating, beguiling, fuzzy creatures!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1731,1630,26,773],"tags":[4004,3940,5695,13640,4787,1631,5071,4069,165,3826,13641,3827,2619,2620],"class_list":["post-109753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-summit-county-utah","category-uinta-ground-squirrel","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-canyon","tag-closed","tag-dozing","tag-eyes","tag-ground-squirrel","tag-ground-squirrels","tag-mountains","tag-spring","tag-squirrel","tag-squirrel-appreciation-day","tag-squirrels","tag-uinta-ground-squirrel-2","tag-urocitellus-armatus"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/uinta-ground-squirrel-adult-closed-eyes-mia-mcpherson-5141.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-syd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":99148,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/21\/squirrel-appreciation-day-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":109753,"position":0},"title":"Squirrel Appreciation Day 2022","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"January 21st is Squirrel Appreciation Day around the globe. There are many reasons to appreciate these furry, four legged, cute creatures.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Baby Uinta Ground Squirrel calling from a rock, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-calling-mia-mcpherson-4066.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-calling-mia-mcpherson-4066.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-calling-mia-mcpherson-4066.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-calling-mia-mcpherson-4066.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":90542,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/17\/baby-uinta-ground-squirrel-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":109753,"position":1},"title":"Baby Uinta Ground Squirrel Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I was able to take a nice long series of baby Uinta Ground Squirrel photos high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two alert baby Uinta Ground Squirrels, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-mia-mcpherson-5803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-mia-mcpherson-5803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-mia-mcpherson-5803.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-mia-mcpherson-5803.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70118,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/05\/20\/baby-uinta-ground-squirrels-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":109753,"position":2},"title":"Baby Uinta Ground Squirrels In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Seeing the baby ground squirrels brought a smile to my face and I must admit that my heart skipped a beat. I really think that they are adorable.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Baby Uinta Ground Squirrel with a muddy nose, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-grass-mia-mcpherson-2296.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-grass-mia-mcpherson-2296.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-grass-mia-mcpherson-2296.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-baby-grass-mia-mcpherson-2296.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":78097,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/21\/national-squirrel-appreciation-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":109753,"position":3},"title":"National Squirrel Appreciation Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"January 21st is National Squirrel Appreciation Day and it recognizes these creatures that some people consider pests while others find them fascinating.","rel":"","context":"In "American Red Squirrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Red Squirrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/american-red-squirrels\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wasatch Mountains Rock Squirrel, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5946.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5946.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5946.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/rock-squirrel-wasatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-5946.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":67050,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/03\/16\/uinta-ground-squirrels-have-emerged\/","url_meta":{"origin":109753,"position":4},"title":"Uinta Ground Squirrels Have Emerged!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I have taken thousands of photos of Uinta Ground Squirrels in green grasses, on rocks, climbing stumps, at their burrows, and in sagebrush but not a single image of them in the snow.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Uinta Ground Squirrel in spring grasses, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-grasses-mia-mcpherson-8605.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-grasses-mia-mcpherson-8605.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-grasses-mia-mcpherson-8605.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-grasses-mia-mcpherson-8605.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52309,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/27\/young-uinta-ground-squirrels-through-my-lens\/","url_meta":{"origin":109753,"position":5},"title":"Young Uinta Ground Squirrels Through My Lens","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 27, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a blast photographing these baby Uinta Ground Squirrels and sharing them with my Mom. It was a peaceful, relaxing morning filled with birds, squirrels, lovely scenery and great company.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Uinta Ground Squirrel at a burrow, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-burrow-mia-mcpherson-1945.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-burrow-mia-mcpherson-1945.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-burrow-mia-mcpherson-1945.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/uinta-ground-squirrel-young-burrow-mia-mcpherson-1945.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}