The Red Squirrel

Yesterday morning, I hiked the Lost Lake Trail.  Gary said it was 1.2 miles around the little lake but that doesn't count circling around the boat landing and the bog.  It's pretty tame hiking, though bears have been spotted in the bog area from time to time. 

I once was tramping along with my brain in the clouds and I thought, I'll have to skirt that little patch of brush.  I woke up just in time and stopped, avoiding the porcupine who was waddling along, in no particular hurry.

This time the only critter I came upon was a red squirrel who followed me for a spell.  He seemed very interested in me.

Red squirrels are the smallest of our squirrels, just a tad bit bigger than chipmunks.   We see them wherever there are conifers.  They can cache a bushel of cone pines to save for the winter months. One way of spotting their nests, made of bark and leaves, is by watching for the discarded cone parts and nuts with the nutmeats missing.

They are much smaller than their cousins, the gray squirrels, but will chase them away from their territory, mostly by taking over the food sources.

They chatter away whenever anyone goes by, making threatening noises, but this young squirrel just observed me.  I wondered if some human had been feeding him. 

I invited him to our campsite for peanuts, but after fifteen minutes he gave up on me.