A couple visitors that eat breakfast with us at the cottage on the Chaumont River!

Today (Oct. 22) was a gorgeous day to sit in the sunshine and enjoy all the colorful leaves that autumn has to offer. I sat underneath a beautiful sugar maple and watched squirrels run around preparing for winter!

Caught this squirrel rooting around in a garbage can on the SLU campus. Good reminder of the many ways that humans impact wildlife. We could all be more careful about keeping our garbage away from wildlife, for their health, and ours. Cute though!

This is a picture of an Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) who was scavenging for food on St. Lawrence University’s campus. Surrounding the school is an abundance of various species of trees where these squirrels spend much of their time near for conveniences like shelter and protection. The area the squirrels are occupying is an open space surrounded with scattered trees and buildings. Farther out there are additional open fields with a river that encompasses a majority of the hardwood forest.

One afternoon in June I met an American Pine Marten on top of Algonquin Peak. Moments after reaching the summit, this curious creature ran up to me. It appeared to be gathering food and enjoying the view. To encounter a pine marten is always fun, but seeing one with a bird in its mouth at 5,115' was a real show. I was impressed to say the least. This pine marten had it made and he/she knew it!

This is a picture of squirrel tracks at Stone Valley in Colton, NY. There were a lot of squirrel as well as porcupine tracks while we were walking along the snowy trail. When squirrels are frightened they will run back and forth to confused predators. Based on the tracks in this picture it doesn't look like the squirrel was being threatened or was in any rush. I think this photo is interesting because of the way the thin branch highlights the squirrel's path.

Type: Animal Track
Habitat Description: Forest / River
Natural History: Lampson Falls is one of the most popular waterfalls in St. Lawrence county. The falls are an impressive 40 feet tall and 100 feet wide. At the bottom of the falls a small beach has formed. The photo of the animal tracks were taken down the trail towards the falls after a fresh snow.
Interest: I was drawn to this image because the clarity of the tracks in the light versus other animals tracks spotted on the walk down to the falls.

One of the many squirrels (red, flying, gray) that visit us for food. Snow always adds some interest and amusement to their feeding antics...

A light snow makes a great substrate for animal tracks. The first two photos are from turkey, third is a squirrel, and fourth is a mouse or other small rodent. Also saw but didn't photograph snowshoe hare. Snow tracks are a neat way to know these animals are around us and active in the cold even when we can't see them.

No one believed me when I said I saw a white squirrel earlier in the week--but here's the proof! I finally snapped a shot of the little guy on my way back from the U-Share Garden.