Now that the bloggarootie seems to be back to perfectly (well, nominally) functioning order, I thought, Should I go ahead and squeeze one last post and a handful of photos out before the day is up? and naturally followed with, Why not? I mean, the photos have already been shot, of a decent subject too – it’s not like I’m forcing anything (unlike, you know, certain posts,) and why should I pass up the opportunity to increase the monthly count to something that will then make me feel like a slackass when I can’t match it in subsequent months? And so, never one to pass up an opportunity to abuse future me, we proceed.
It was just a couple of days ago, in the afternoon, when I received an opportunity to show scale better than before.
An eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) of course, but behind it sits one of the bebbeh nutrias (Myocastor coypus.) The squirrel is an adult, or at least very close to it, so we see the relative size of the two – the nutria will eventually get several times this size, big enough to go into your trunk for winter traction. But right now, they’re cute as hell.
While these were shot two days ago, just today we found that there are three this size – photos and video will be forthcoming.
There were actually a pair there that day, mostly staying in the deep shadow behind the tree and necessitating some exposure compensation to counteract the camera reading too much of the surrounding brightness. And that knee over to the left, the darkest one, we’ve also seen before.
One was comfortable just sitting where it was and scarfing down the corn, but the other decided it wanted to explore what the yard had to offer.
I snagged the frame where it had lined up nicely in front of its sibling, but it must be said, this wasn’t the safest move; the pair of red-shouldered hawks have mated recently and show all signs of occupying the nest that sits not twenty meters from this spot, and while the adult nutrias could probably swat a hawk out of the air, these little spuds are just the right size for a decent meal. No adult was in sight to offer any warning or protection, either – we’re actually a little surprised how often they’re out on their own, and wonder if we should be calling CPS.
Another nice scale shot, as a Canada goose (Branta canadensis) cruises on past. Everything in the pond – nutrias, turtles, herons, ibises – all seem to consider the geese a mere fixture and ignore their presence, no matter how close they come. And of course, you realize that there’s a bit of distance between the bebbeh and the goose, with telephoto compression having some effect, so the bebbeh appears larger than it would if right alongside the goose. They’re little more than a handful right now, like something you might hang from your rearview mirror after winning it from a claw machine.
So that’s four more photos down, and we still have an hour left in the day – should we try for more?