An October 5th stare-down with the white fox squirrel on the Ashe juniper tree outside my window

with 24 comments

Written by Steve Schwartzman

November 4, 2013 at 6:01 AM

Posted in nature photography

Tagged with animals, Austin, nature, photography, Texas, Texas Hill Country, trees

24 Responses

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Don’t keep us in suspense! Who won?

Mad Queen Linda

November 4, 2013 at 6:44 AM

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- I did, and I even came away from the encounter with photographs. As far as I could tell, the squirrel didn’t take any pictures.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  November 4, 2013 at 7:18 AM
  
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Apart from the terrifically high “Awwwww….” factor here, I really like the contrast between the soft, fluffy tail and the tree bark. I’d be putting out shelled pecans for this critter so fast it would make your head spin.

shoreacres

November 4, 2013 at 6:57 AM

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- I’ve seen the white squirrel on this tree at least half a dozen times. When I grabbed my camera this time, it had the usual 100 mm macro lens on it, and in the interest of a speedy response I didn’t take the time to switch to a telephoto lens. One consequence was that I couldn’t zoom in as close as I would’ve liked. Another was that the dim light led me to open up to the maximum aperture of f/2.8, which I almost never use because it gives such a shallow depth of field. That shallow depth of field accounts for the out-of-focus image of the squirrel’s tail, and you can see that the nearest parts of the tree bark are blurred as well. I focused on the squirrel’s face and managed to get most of it reasonably sharp.
  
  I’ve seen squirrels on this tree eat adjacent yaupon fruits, but never any nuts.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  November 4, 2013 at 7:43 AM
  
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Beautiful, with just enough DOF for detail and a lovely bokeh.

M. Firpi

November 4, 2013 at 7:22 AM

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- I hadn’t yet seen your comment when I wrote my response to the previous one. There I gave the technical particulars about DOF.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  November 4, 2013 at 7:46 AM
  
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It looks healthy. I think you will enjoy another image of a small critter.
http://awindowintothewoods.com/2013/11/04/yum/

Jim in IA

November 4, 2013 at 8:18 AM

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- This white squirrel does seem healthy, and it’s been in my neighborhood for a year or so.
  
  The post you linked to doesn’t say what kind of squirrel that is. The fact that it’s grabbing a small red fruit reminds me of a picture I took late last year:
  
  https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/a-forgotten-picture-reclaimed/
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  November 4, 2013 at 8:50 AM
  
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  - That little animal is a chipmunk.
    
    Jim in IA
    
    November 5, 2013 at 7:04 AM
    
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    - I wondered if that’s what it might be. Now I know.
      
      Steve Schwartzman
      
      November 5, 2013 at 7:43 AM
      
      Reply
I recently came across the last part of a battle between crows and raccoons in a pine tree at the back of our lot. The crows won, chasing the raccoons out of the tree and then out of the yard.

mrsdaffodil

November 4, 2013 at 11:28 AM

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- Some programs I’ve seen on television have surprised me with instances of certain kinds of birds—in your case crows—that are bold enough to take on larger animals and drive them away. I’ve occasionally seen blue jays “divebomb” squirrels.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  November 4, 2013 at 11:37 AM
  
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Cette photo me fait complètement craquer.. bravo Steve!

chatou11

November 4, 2013 at 1:03 PM

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- Merci, Chantal. En lisant des blogues français j’ai appris le sens argotique du verbe craquer.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  November 4, 2013 at 1:18 PM
  
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I love squirrels. They are so entertaining! 😀

Midwestern Plant Girl

November 4, 2013 at 4:24 PM

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- Entertaining they are, and every day I see one or more outside the window where I’m sitting and typing this now.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  November 4, 2013 at 4:50 PM
  
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very cute

sedge808

November 4, 2013 at 8:49 PM

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- Fun to watch.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  November 5, 2013 at 6:47 AM
  
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What a beautiful creature and what an excellent photo! A white squirrel would be a very special one. We have a small pine squirrel in residence here now and think she is wonderful!

montucky

November 4, 2013 at 9:33 PM

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- I’ve read that there are places that have groups of white squirrels, but in my neighborhood I’ve never seen two white squirrels together, so I’m assuming there’s only this one. I expect you’re enjoying your pine squirrel as much as I’ve enjoyed seeing and photographing this one.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  November 5, 2013 at 7:02 AM
  
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Years ago, in Reader’s Digest, I read an applicable exclamation: “O u q t , u r a b-u t !”
Never before seen such a squirrel — great photo!

beeholdn

November 5, 2013 at 4:43 PM

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- And U R a good wordplayer 2 bring that up 4 us.
  
  I saw the white squirrel on the same tree this morning but it went scampering off with about four normally colored squirrels before I had a chance to take any more pictures.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  November 5, 2013 at 5:00 PM
  
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Well, no matter who blinked first, you won. Fabulous shot. Handsome critter. What fun!

kathryningrid

November 7, 2013 at 1:34 PM

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- That’s the spirit, let’s hear it! And yes, it was fun.
  
  Steve Schwartzman
  
  November 7, 2013 at 8:51 PM
  
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