As always, click the photo to enlarge. You’ll want to enlarge this one to fully appreciate how beautiful a squirrel can be.
A Delmarva Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger cinereus) noshes on the fruit of greenbrier in the genus Smilax (I’m unsure of the species). This distinctive subspecies made the inaugural U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listing of endangered species in 1967. At that time, the squirrel had plummeted in numbers, and was reduced to only four counties in Maryland’s eastern shore region. Thanks in large part to habitat restoration and protection, the beautiful rodent has rebounded and it was removed from the endangered list in 2015.
Seeing this large silvery squirrel, and hopefully making photos, was high on my list for this trip to Maryland and Virginia. Obviously I met with success, but the photography part wasn’t that easy. I found these squirrels to be rather bashful, and prone to running, scaling trees, or remaining in thick cover when approached.
But some perseverance paid off and eventually I was able to work with several animals and get nice images. I’ll try and make a more complete post on the Delmarva Fox Squirrel after I return home, including other imagery of them and their haunts.
2 comments:
Thank you for posting this! Delmarva is a wonderful area for connecting with natural surroundings and for birding!!! There is amazing biodiversity in the northern most southern swamp. The Ocean City Inlet, Assateague Island, Chincoteague Bay and Island, the Pocomoke River & Forest, the Wildlife Management areas like EA Vaugh and Johnson, Blackwater, Cape Henlopen, Bombay Hook, Prime Hook, all the public landings up and down the Chincoteague Bay, and backroads are all great for birding.
You’re welcome! And I hope to return and hit some of those places you mention!
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