The best public place to see Red Squirrels regularly on the West Wight is probably the nut feeder at the Model Railway Exhibition in the corner of Fort Victoria where they are regular visitors. I have had 4 there at one time in the past. I stopped by on the way home from a meeting this morning and, sure enough, this Red Squirrel was feeding on the nuts, hanging down from the branch above by its back feet. It then ran along the fence next to where I was seated in my car 'hide' and retrieved a hazelnut from where it had been hidden amongst the thick ivy on top of a fence-post - fascinating. It's interesting that, even with a regular supply of peanuts on tap, it still prefers 'one that I prepared earlier'! You can see the video here:
Very nice footage.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Peter....I had a lot of video of the Squirrel on the nut dispenser....but it was all out of focus unfortunately!
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