Monday, October 8, 2007

Squirrel Antics

This story is about a squirrel and an ear of corn. It’s a tale of valor of a squirrel which braved a camera placed inches near it, not to mention a imposing-looking human staring down at it, grinning manically…..just for that ear of corn. Shows how hungry the animal world is….I was not trying to scare it, I was trying to hide myself, but the squirrel was clever, and she(or he?) noticed me! Well, well, since I am still a beginner in animal photography, my first attempt was a slow and patience-testing process, but nevertheless I was excited enough to pursue my new-found hobby with vigor. I’ve beginning to understand that photography is not as easy as it sounds. When I have more time on my hands, and hopefully, if the little fellow visits me again (he keeps coming every other day), I want to start off a crash course in animal photography, without causing any inconvenience to that timid squirrel, and as they say, what better place to start off than your own backyard?


But I must admit, the credit for all the pictures here does not go only to me, mom and my brother helped. I hope you enjoy goign through the photos!
















Five things you need to know about squirrels


Well, don;t ask for the validity of these things...these are the things about squirrel behavior that I have observed, and if you are a true scientist, I'm in trouble! Squirrels are lovable creatures, but they are fickle and need patience while dealing with. They communicate in shrill screeches, with their tails lashing out once, and they 'smell' you often...and when they are doing that, you can observe that their ears sort of move up and down,...they collect cotton in the winter to keep them warm in the winter season, so if you are a kind soul, you'll take enough care to provide some cotton to them (This is a proved fact, from Maneka Ghandhi's article)...well, don;t try to touch a squirrel, because if a squirrel smells 'human' then, other squirrels may kill it!

8 comments:

Aparna said...

Nice pictures :)

>because if a squirrel smells 'human' then, other squirrels may kill it!
:O That's news to me

Mysore Madhu said...

Well done Lakshmi,

Great shots. Looks like your new hobby will take you places. For one, I have seen lot of pelicans at Madivala Lake for the last several weeks, during my daily transit to Electronic City. Should go there some time in the early hours and try my hand at snapping them. Well, after the Ganesha idol immersion "BOOM", the Yediyur tank has its bird population missing.

Maddy said...

very nice pics - brought back the story of 'how the rama lines came on the desi squirrel' story!!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lakshmi Bharadwaj said...

Sure, you can e-mail me on;
lakshmi090@yahoo.com.
PS. where are you in the US?

Samba said...

Brilliant. Especially impressive to me as an animal lover. By the way do you want to start a crash course on animal photography for yourself or for others. If it's open for other's I'm signed up

Omkar Hegde said...

It doesn’t take much courage for someone to face a camera when its held by such a charming person as you are. So sorry friend, no credits for your bravery. Also it would be too unusual for any being to have not noticed a marvel like you. Again, sorry mate for not crediting your cleverness. But I credit you a lot for all the antics you have displayed and I know what you wanted to say her at that moment. Shall I convey that to her?...........
Ok, you want me to convey it as a song from 3 idiots. Fine then…..
GIVE ME SOME CHAMPAGNE
GIVE HER SOME RAIN
GIVE THEM ANOTHER CHANCE, TO TREAT ME BETTER AGAIN.
I would like to make 5 comparisons between the “Screeching” Squirrels and the “humble” humans.
1) Squirrels are lovable creatures but humans are not. (I am an exception.)
2) Squirrels are fickle minded. So are humans. But they can be stabilized under special circumstances. (under the influence of alcohol.)
3) Squirrels communicate with shrill screeches. Human communication varies from screeching shrills to horrifying stares and gazes. (Some use soft screeches also.)
4) Squirrels often try to smell you, because they guage your personality by estimating the time before you had your last bath. Humans use their olfactory senses only to distinguish between their food and sewage. ( Sorry for those people suffering from severe cold and running nose at this point of time)
5) Squirrels use cotton during winter and wool ( naturally gifted ) during summer season.
Humans use wool during winter and cotton (no gifts, all earned) during summer season.
( Its time to sign a treaty with them.)
Thanks for all the lovely pictures that you have provided us and hope that you get to photograph more such natural marvels as your models. ( No, don’t consider me. I am not interested in modeling ).
oh god, i love animals. Because they are very very tasty. (guys i am talking about the visual treat they provide us).

Omkar Hegde said...

It doesn’t take much courage for someone to face a camera when its held by such a charming person as you are. So sorry friend, no credits for your bravery. Also it would be too unusual for any being to have not noticed a marvel like you. Again, sorry mate for not crediting your cleverness. But I credit you a lot for all the antics you have displayed and I know what you wanted to say her at that moment. Shall I convey that to her?...........
Ok, you want me to convey it as a song from 3 idiots. Fine then…..
GIVE ME SOME CHAMPAGNE
GIVE HER SOME RAIN
GIVE THEM ANOTHER CHANCE, TO TREAT ME BETTER AGAIN.
I would like to make 5 comparisons between the “Screeching” Squirrels and the “humble” humans.
1) Squirrels are lovable creatures but humans are not. (I am an exception.)
2) Squirrels are fickle minded. So are humans. But they can be stabilized under special circumstances. (under the influence of alcohol.)
3) Squirrels communicate with shrill screeches. Human communication varies from screeching shrills to horrifying stares and gazes. (Some use soft screeches also.)
4) Squirrels often try to smell you, because they guage your personality by estimating the time before you had your last bath. Humans use their olfactory senses only to distinguish between their food and sewage. ( Sorry for those people suffering from severe cold and running nose at this point of time)
5) Squirrels use cotton during winter and wool ( naturally gifted ) during summer season.
Humans use wool during winter and cotton (no gifts, all earned) during summer season.
( Its time to sign a treaty with them.)
Thanks for all the lovely pictures that you have provided us and hope that you get to photograph more such natural marvels as your models. ( No, don’t consider me. I am not interested in modeling ).
oh god, i love animals. Because they are very very tasty. (guys i am talking about the visual treat they provide us).