From WSB contributing photographer Matt Durham: An Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) packs away the berries from a hawthorn tree at Hiawatha Park in preparation for winter. Eastern gray squirrels were first introduced into Washington in 1925.
(Prints of Matt’s WSB photos and his other work are available through his site, MattDurhamPhotography.com.)
That is so beautiful – great composition! Have you considered entering it in a competition?
Thank you for the compliment. If I find the right contest I will submit it.
For information, this photo was taken with a pint and shoot digital (Pentax Optio W30) with a flash during daylight. Normally I shoot with a Canon digital SLR but on this day I was running a loop from Hiawatha to Schmitz Park around Alki and back up Fairmont Canyon. I caught this scene at the end of my run and almost ignored it due to fatigue and laziness. I hate to speculate how many shots I missed due to complacency.
Yeah, my Christmas card would read “please send flower bulbs to replace the ones these stupid squirrels keep stealing.” It IS a lovely photo though.
Yay! A particular photo, that was published in the Herald a few years ago, is on Matt’s site. At the time, I came up with what I thought was the perfect caption for it. I even e-mailed it in as a Letter to the Editor, and got a nice reply, but no mention of my caption in any future issues. I don’t want to violate Copyright by posting it or linking it here, so those that are interested, click on the link, above, to Matt’s site, then scroll down and click on “Best of West Seattle, if the disclaimer page comes up, click on “Yes”, then when the page of thumbnails comes up, scroll down until you see the pic of the three English Bulldogs (15/51).
As the story went, the dogs were unrelated, and the three different owners happened to each be walking their dog around Alki at the same time.
I don’t recall all of the dogs names, but seem to remember one of them, (the one on the viewers left) being named Maggie.
Okay, so “Maggie” appears to be hamming it up for the camera, looking right at it,tongue sticking out a little, almost as if smiling. The middle dog (who imgage is partially obscured by the copyright embossment), looks to be glancing over to the dog the left, which appears to be looking over towards “Maggie”
My caption, both dogs in gruff sounding, Bronx-ish tough guy accent:
Middle Dog:”Look at dat Maggie! Always hammin’ it up fer da camera!”
Dog on Left: “Yeah, disgustin’ ain’t it!!
Mike
I love squirrels, but they freak me out a little. Anyone who walks in Lincoln Park knows why. Tonight I chanced upon a woman and her dog walking there. She was shooing away the squirrels (with some distress and alarm) that were running towards her the way they do. Boy, did she pick the wrong park for that particular phobia!
Ahhh, the bushy-tailed tree rat. Cute, cuddly and omnivorous! Beautiful picture.
Matt, we love this picture! Ron is also known as Mr. Squirrel (nasty collecting of stuff habit), and this would make a perfect Christmas card for us. How can we go about arranging that with you?
Hi Cindi,
Go to http://www.MattDurhamPhotography.com
Then to the gallery of : “WestSeattleBlog Photos”
Find the photo then click the “Greeting Card”
“Go to Cart”
Check Out”
Here you will be given a multitude of card choices.
Another option, depending on the amount of cards you wish to produce for noncommercial use is a purchase of an electronic image. Contact me if this is desirable.
If you have question or concerns please Email me.
My Email is available on my site.
Thank you all for the fun and interesting input.
Matt
Sorry, comment time is over.
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