Hazelnut Breakfast.

During the first two weeks in August I followed the antics of two young red squirrels born earlier in the year.

I have named them Marmalade and Sooty. Early morning would always see them arriving for a hazelnut breakfast.

        
                              Sooty - young male red squirrel.

                    Marmalade - young female red squirrel.

Sooty would always travel up to the feeder using the low stone wall to the side of the woodland walk.

Occasionally he tried the rope handrails to get to the feeders.

Obviously his balance skills are needing more practice.

Marmalade always came from a different direction in the mornings.She liked to creep around the back of the trees to reach hazelnuts I had carefully placed.

Her skills in retrieving hazelnuts over the two week observation period were brilliant. No matter where I hid the nuts she discovered them.

Marmalade seemed to enjoy eating a hazelnut breakfast upside down. She did this on several mornings.

Every morning visit she made for breakfast she searched every crevice for the hidden nuts.

Sooty would grab hold of a hazelnut between his paws, turning it several times to determine its contents. Sometimes he would find a bad nut and discard it - a lighter nut may have a shrivelled or absent kernel.

This next photo shows Sooty breaking into the hazelnut using his front two sharp incisors. His teeth will continue to grow throughout his life-time as they are worn away at the tip, just like our fingernails.

                

Sooty opening a hazelnut can be heard from quite a distance - his teeth gnawing at the shell. If you are in the woodland walk you will know if a squirrel is in the area because you can hear its teeth working away, like little bandsaws.

I observed how Marmalade seems to clasp her nuts in her mouth and then be intent on burying them.

I hope she can remember where her buried nuts are in winter.

I did wonder if another red squirrel is just as likely to find the buried nut in winter.

Both Marmalade and Sooty open a hazelnut by notching the point,and then cracking the shell neatly in two.They then might hold both parts of the shell until the kernel has been eaten,or might use one half as a saucer.

I watched many times as Marmalade and Sooty used one half of the nut as a saucer.

Alternatively,some red squirrels might hold the nut, and tear off chunks of shell until the kernel can be extracted. Possibly they could learn either technique from their mother.

The above photo shows how a squirrel might tear chunks from the nut to gain access to the kernel

The following photograph shows a nut opened by Marmalade  or Sooty.They both use the method of using one half as a saucer.

In my two weeks of observation on Marmalade and Sooty I was sometimes joined by other Underscar owners.They were as delighted as myself to see the red squirrel colony looking so healthy.

Agile Reds at Underscar

After reading ' Rowan The Red Squirrel' by Fran Foster, where Rowan is a young agile red squirrel learning skills to be an adult, I decided to see if I could capture similar behaviour in the Underscar juvenile reds.

The red squirrels at Underscar tend to use the same routes through the trees to get to the feeders. So I positioned myself at the top of the woodland walk and sat in wait.

This young juvenile soon appeared. Having been born late in the summer, his moult into the thicker winter coat started later. Head moult and side of body moult isn't quite finished. It is a hard life for red squirrels born towards the end of summer as they really need to busy themselves storing food for the winter.

He peeps round the tree to see if it is all clear to make his way to the feeder.

Down the juvenile red moves headfirst. I am often asked how it does this. The answer is that they have ankle joints that are adapted to be super flexible. When a red squirrel wants to climb down it can rotate its feet 180 degrees, digging its claws into the trunk and hanging from its back legs.

In human terms this would mean that you could rotate your feet around until they were pointing backwards.

This juvenile red is using his sharp claws to show what a super climber he is. What a prize he carries to eat high in the canopy.

Down near the feeder this young juvenile just manages to hold onto the branch without tipping over.

He is building up leg muscle all the time so that he can climb always keeping his balance.

Nearly balanced; he just needs to pull himself up so all legs are on the branch. How tempting those hazelnuts seem.

He made it successfully just pausing to look down at another red squirrel who is approaching the feeder. On this photo the moult can be clearly seen.

I also was able to observe more agility in a juvenile red by its balancing acts.

This one is very well positioned to enjoy its hazelnut. However not for long as another red is just approaching. A quick glance down assures this red that it is in no danger and he finishes off his kernel.

Underscar timeshare owners are able to borrow this booklet from Oxley's reception at Underscar apartments near Applethwaite in Cumbria.