Terrified!

We are one of the few places that has Red Squirrels and they often come up from the woodland below our house to feed on the peanuts in our garden. I have rarely managed to take photographs of them, as they are very nervous and react to any sound, such as that of a door opening.

Today though I was able to quietly open the door and this one kept on feeding. I am pretty certain that it is a female with young and it was most likely the need for a bit of fast food to keep her energy levels up that made her less nervous than usual. I did wonder why however, when she had finished feeding, she stayed on the top of the wooden bar that holds the feeders. They usually run very quickly across the field and back into the woods. So why did she stay? It certainly wasn't so that I could take more photographs, which I did.

It was when she eventually took a leap down and made to run down into the field, that I realised next door's cat had been waiting below and now ran after her and trapped her high up in one of our trees. She remained there, even after I had got rid of the cat (not permanently, sadly!). I could have taken more pictures, but decided to let her be and hope she eventually decided it was safe enough to get down and across to the woods and back to her young.

So this is a picture of a terrified Red Squirrel, trapped by a cat.


Thank you so much for your responses to yesterday's party blip. I was so grateful to be able to share the story with you all. My choice of image might have appeared a bit strange. I certainly had plenty of other pictures that would have provided a more obvious 'connections' link. But last night, when reflecting on the day, suddenly the quirky, quickly-snapped picture of the two volunteers cheerfully bringing the colourful little train in from its last trip of the day seemed to fit the mood better than any more serious, reflective image might have done.