Saturday Surprise — Squirrels!

Posted on by under animals, Humour, Saturday Surprise

I came across something a few days ago and thought it would be perfect for this week’s Saturday surprise, since with Christmas coming at mach speed, I am short on time this week and don’t have time to take you traveling in the Filomobile to exotic places.  What I came across was squirrels!  Let me explain …

Meet Geert Weggen

Geert Weggen

Geert is the one on the right.  I’ll let him tell you a bit about himself …

“I am a Dutch/Swedish international awarded photographer specializing in photographing Red squirrels. My work has been published wide abroad in newspapers, books, calendars, radio and television, and magazines.

6 years ago, there was a fox standing on my doorstep, and I immediately rushed back inside to fetch some meat. The fox would come back daily to get more food and I used that as an opportunity to take some photos.

By the end of a second week, the fox would come to the balcony where it interacted with various props I used for photography. Soon before late, a Russian bird paid me a visit and continued on doing so daily. Suddenly, my balcony had become a studio filled with nature props, cameras, mirrors etc. The bird followed me and I followed the bird with my camera, as it searched for hidden food in scenes that I had created. Some photos of this encounter were awarded and published.

Eventually, red squirrels appeared and they still come daily to my outside studio. Little did I know back then that it would become my living.”

Geert is the author of eight squirrel photo books and there are hundreds of his gorgeous pictures available to view online, but I picked a few of my favourites to share here with you this morning.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did, and if you visit Geert’s website, you can see many more of these delightfully whimsical photos.

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And for an extra treat … how ’bout a short video …

Have a fun and wonderful weekend, my friends!

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49 thoughts on “Saturday Surprise — Squirrels!”

  1. Pingback: Saturday Surprise — More Squirrels! | Filosofa's Word

  3. Benjamin has been a squirrelaholic dating back to the first days of taking his “tubbies” in my kitchen sink. Above the sink is a window with a view of my backyard and the trees just beyond that are home to an abundance of grey squirrels.He started calling them “Earl the Squirrel and his sister Pearl”…every single one was either Earl or Pearl. Needless to say, he is ecstatic over this post. The squirrel dance video has him suspended in the throes of laughter and I have been advised to “save” this post. The photos are all so adorable that we can not choose a favorite, though the dandelion one is loved because…well, we love both dandelions! As I was reading this post to Benjamin, he asked : “Is it too late for Santa to bring me one of Geert’s squirrel books?” So, we are off to his website in the hope of finding that his books are available for purchase. Thank-you x 2!!

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    • I am so thrilled that Benjamin loves it!!! And I, too, love dandelions!!! I much prefer wildflowers of any sort to hothouse roses and such! I hope you found the books? I believe they are written only in German, though, but the pictures are priceless.

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  8. Most animals are very smart if you watch them long enough to become aware of their intelligence. While the little squirrel on the dancing skeleton is amusing, I found it fascinating that the squirrel eventually found equilibrium by standing, legs apart, on the skeleton’s two arms, so that it could get to the reward treat and eat it. Fascinating pictorial on learning a new skill.
    I have just finished watching ‘Murder of Crows,’ on YouTube, a ‘Nature’ presentation. ‘Murder,’ is the name for a group of crows (in case you were wondering). I recommend it… Absolutely fascinating intelligence.

    Loved this Saturday Surprise!

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    • They learn just like a child … by trial and error. Eventually they figure out what works and what doesn’t, else their species would never survive. Humans have become too dependent on being told how to do things, so we don’t use all our abilities to figure things out. I will check out ‘Murder of Crows’ … thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed this Saturday Surprise … I think I could be happy enough to make them all about animals, for they fascinate me!

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  11. Members of our camera club would be envious of those photos – though the serious wildlife snappers might not approve of some of the props. Of course there is a dark side to this – in Britain our own red squirrels have been ousted by grey squirrels – who through no fault of their own were brought over from North America. To see red squirrels we have to go to Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, the Isle of Wight or up to the Lake District.

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    • What you say is true … serious nature photographers would eschew the props, but personally I think there’s nothing wrong with them. They are smile-evoking and all just a bit of fun without harming nature or wildlife. I wasn’t aware of what happened to the red squirrels in the UK … how sad. We have an abundance of the grey squirrels here, too, but there are areas where the red ones thrive.

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    • So, they have figured out the key to the ‘squirrel-proof’ birdfeeders, eh? Rather like my kids could always figure out how to open child-proof caps, but I struggled with them. Need something opened … as a 2-year-old! I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures!

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  13. I saw this the other day. Amazing photography.
    I have lots of squirrels around and they are fascinating to watch…very clever and truly very stable geniuses 😊

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  14. Thank you for sharing… have squirrels here also and for the most part are rebellious knuckleheads… 🙂 my hero is the prehistoric squirrel on Ice Age, Skratte… 🙂 have a wonderful weekend filled with happiness…

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      • I see… I assume then that there is a possibility that with family you have not watched the adventures of the super hero, Snagglepuss (the pink panthers cousin).. you truly have led a sheltered life…. 🙂 🙂 🙂 this is Dutch, exiting stage right… TTFN

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        • Sigh … you would assume correctly. A sheltered life, indeed. In truth, I rarely watch movies because, being near deaf I cannot understand what is being said, so I must rely on closed-captioning, but then I am missing part of the visual action. So, I find reading a much more rewarding pursuit, but on occasion I do watch a movie or series on my laptop. Last time I went to the theater was around 1998 when I took my granddaughter to see a Winnie the Pooh movie, but with no captioning, I understood nothing and left in near tears, swearing ‘never again!’

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  15. I saw a documentary years ago on squirrels and how bright they are. A maze was constructed — a regular Rube Goldberg type of thing — that took seven or eight steps to solve before the squirrels could get their reward. They took a bit of time to figure it out, but they did figure out — inevitably. Remarkable creatures. Thanks for the delightful pictures and here’s hoping you survive the Christmas chaos!

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    • Fascinating … I would have liked to see that! Most animals are smarter than we give them credit for. Thanks Hugh … the Christmas chaos is overwhelming from time-to-time, but I’m being more minimalist this year … self-preservation!

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