Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Squirrels!



I haven't had enough time to sketch this summer, since we're building a tiny studio in the lot next door--but every morning I sit on the little deck with my coffee and watch the birds and squirrels and other wildlife before starting my workday.

This is a young volunteer mulberry, which attracts many visitors when it's in fruit.  Mostly, it's just a quick stop on the squirrels' superhighway, between the woods behind us and the neighbor's oak tree.

We have fox squirrels and grays here, normally not at the same time--and of course they have lots of names, in different parts of the country.  My husband calls our reds, Sciurus niger, a red squirrel, but it's a fox squirrel to me.  (This little guy with the big ear tufts is what Wikipedia calls a red squirrel.  He's Sciurus vulgaris.)

They can BOTH cause a lot of damage, as they have at our old cabin, chewing the red cedar trim...


I guess I won't keep a feeder too close to the new shed...don't want a repeat of this!  They've gnawed the screens right down to the nails that hold them together...

8 comments:

  1. Oh my That would be dreadful.I not been by the studio blog is a bit..... are you in and working? Linda

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  2. Great transparent colours Kate, lovely sketch. We know you've been busy, been following your building progress and, although it is "small", I'm sure it's been a mammoth task!

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  3. Thanks, all! And Linda, not yet...we just got the floor painted day before yesterday, and still need to add the baseboards, etc.

    It has been a LOT more complex than I imagined or planned for, Maree!

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  4. OOh - i love squirrels.. I know they can cause immense damage to lovely studios and the environment, BUT we don;t have squirrels in Australia, so they are a novelty to me. I lived in the UK for 18 months and I thought it was great to see them, Even now, if I see a leaf blowing across a park, I double check it is not a squirrel !!

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  5. I love them too, Alissa, thank you--they're so lively and alert! Much more energetic than our rabbits, usually.

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  6. sounds like you are getting close....Linda

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  7. Yes, we are, Linda! Lots of small details that seem like they should take half a day but we're still putzing with them a week later. Still, I DO work out there, I just don't feel settled yet.

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