HAWK FOOD

It's IMSA week at Road America.  It was/is a very HOT and HUMID day out there. I had to abandon the asphalt of the track 2 times for the cooling AC in the media tower. But then it was back out to Sweat City for more shooting.
~
There is typically 12-15 minutes between races to tend to Victory Lane ceremonies and a photographer has to amuse himself by shooting whatever subject makes itself available.
~
Living under the Jersey Barriers (BIG concrete barriers that weigh about 3 tons each and separate the track from the spectators) there is an entire community of organisms. Among them is the Thirteen-lined Ground Squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) a.k.a. Gopher to the locals.  It's a rodent and is often confused with the common Chipmunk, also a rodent, but they are not that closely related. Chippies belong to an entirely different Genus, Tamias...the local variety is Tamias striatus.
~
Gophers live in open areas while chipmunks prefer wooded areas. Check the Extra image to see how the 13-lined ground squirrel got its name.
~
The corner workers have "adopted" many of these little beggars who just love to mooch food offered to them. They LOVE grapes, peanuts, apples and Fritos. Did I mention cherries?  This one is munching on a piece of cheese. Apparently, they like that too.
~
I fear that all the corner workers are doing is fattening them up for the resident populations of hawks and foxes.
~
Best viewed in Large.