Squirrel gets a surprise on Christmas day

Eastern Gray Squirrel (Gryseekhoring) heading down heads first

The Eastern Gray Squirrel is native to North America. This species has a "good" track record for establishing colonies in non-native countries.

Sitting on a rock next to the stream

The Eastern Gray Squirrel is not considered a big invasive threat in South Africa, mostly because of the location where the introduction took place. The Western Cape has no native squirrels and the habitat (mostly shrubs and heaths) are not very attractive to squirrels which usually prefer areas with more trees. The same conditions that limit the native squirrels from spreading into the Western Cape is also limiting the Eastern Gray Squirrels from leaving the Western Cape. In the Western Cape they are limited to Oak and Pine plantations and suburban gardens.

I very rarely photograph individuals in the native vegetation. If I do get a photo of one it is usually in the forests or the transition between forest and fynbos. These are most likely dispersing individuals looking for new territories and they don't stay in the area for long. However, they are much more commonly found anywhere near Oak trees and the photos in this post where all taken along a small stream at Kirstenbosch with Oak nearby.

So, to get back to the title of this blog entry: On the 24th December I moved my camera a little up the stream onto a branch from an Oak tree that crossed the stream. The next day when the squirrel crossed the branch it did not know what to think of this strange new object in its way, and it spent some time checking it out.

Click the image to view the larger version

But by the next day it was confident enough to do some serious grooming in front of the camera.

Some serious early morning grooming

And some more crazy moves to get at that last spot

My main reason for trying out this area along the stream was to maybe get pictures of an Otter or Water Mongoose, although I think it's a long shot... More realistically I was hoping for some nice Large-Spotted Genet pictures and maybe a Porcupine crossing the stream. No Porcupine appeared, but a Small Grey Mongoose appeared and I did get the tail end of the local genet a few times. Maybe better luck next time.

I have been looking at the rear end of genets for far to long now... I want some mug shots please :)

Mistery Animals

Lately I have been getting a few pictures of animals that are just not clear enough to be 100% sure what species it is... Pictures like that always torment me and keeps me wondering what I could have done differently to get a better picture and whether I can do anything to not make the same mistake again.

The truth of the matter is, naturally, that we are dealing nature. These are wild animals and their behaviour is largely outside of my control. I prefer not to use sent or bait, but sometimes it is useful to do so.

I also depend on a cameras that tries to sense body heat and then has to wake up (trigger time) before it can take the picture. It also has to wait (recovery time) before it can take the next picture.

These are just some of the factors that influences being able to identify the animal or not. Below are some examples of pictures that are a little more difficult to identify.

Some of the animals are easier than others to take a guess at.


This is probably a Grey Squirrel.

But what is this? A bird, yes, but what species?


It seems to be some kind of Flycatcher, but which one? You really need to get a good look at the front of the bird to be sure...

And what about this? (The cat-like animal behind the rock.)


Is this a Caracal? Or is it just a house cat? I'm planning to go back to this spot with a measuring tape to see whether I can get some indication of the animal's size :)

And, lastly, I have to include the always popular over exposed flash...


This in fact is a porcupine. I know this because luckily another picture was taken as it got further away from the camera.