Bay Photos by Donna

If you’re like me, you can’t help but take a photo now and then of squirrels, they are cute and will freeze in poses, hoping to blend in and you not see them.  Or maybe they are wondering and sniffing to see if you have something to eat.  They make for great wildlife photography practice with the abundance of several species throughout the United States.

The squirrels that are part of the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona are primarily Rock Squirrels.  They camouflage pretty well with the area’s red rock.  If I hadn’t seen him run to the rock, I might not have seen this next one off in the distance.

Rock Squirrel, Kaibab Lake

I met up with another Rock Squirrel while at the Grand Canyon where signs were posted throughout to please not feed the squirrels.

It was while I was standing back and away from the crowd, there was a startling rustle in the tree next to me.  We made eye contact.

Rock Squirrel, Grand Canyon

He continued to move around the tree, munching here and there, but always checking on my location.

“You still there?”

 “Hey, you got anything good to eat?”

I walked away when he started to become more interested in me, I figured he was wondering if I had any food.  Nope.  Nada.  Not for you.

This next fella proved some tourists don’t follow the rules.  He jumped out from the railing and ran up to a lady, and stood on his hind legs.  She was so tickled and bent over to take his photo with her cell phone.

He then reached up to try and take it!

Begging Rock Squirrel, “I’ll take that!”

We all started to laugh while the lady snatched up her phone.  I then got this next shot.

WHAT????

The lady wasn’t about to give him her cell phone.  The Rock Squirrel quickly gave up and ran back behind the railing to the rocks.  It was obvious he was a pro, probably doing this many times a day.

Chipmunks are also a member of the squirrel family.  They are smaller and tend to not be a nuisance to society as the larger squirrels we all know so well.

Heading out of the Kaibab Lake recreational area, something caught my eye.  Backlit from the late afternoon sun, a tiny Least Chipmunk was busy nibbling on a pine needle.  I shot my photos out of the window of our running truck.

Least Chipmunk, Lake Kaibab

The smallest of all chipmunks at 4-7 inches long and only weighing 1-2 ounces, the Least Chipmunk is widely distributed throughout the United States.

Seeing our truck backing up, this little fella dropped to the ground and continued to nibble.

I was tickled with this photo op, and we started to roll on when he jumped back on top of the rock.

We stopped again and I took a couple more photos.  He was now getting wary of us.

I snapped above, and we rolled on.  Bet he went back to eating!

I felt lucky to have spotted that tiny chipmunk.

So I say, how can anyone deny the cuteness of squirrels and chipmunks?!!