The Squirrel

Dinosaur National Monument, Utah

40 25.141 N 109 14.624 W

 

Do you see the squirrel high up on the steep gravel slope in the picture? Neither do I. But I did see him there a few minutes ago and I had fun watching him for several minutes as he cavorted effortlessly up and down.

We easterners are used to seeing squirrels cavort effortlessly up and down trees, not hills. But I suppose there is no big difference. A tall tree or a steep hill are both likely to give protection against predators. I have a hard time visualizing a fox or a coyote on that steep part of the hill.

After a while I saw a second squirrel appear on the slope. "Aha," I thought, "a couple." But that wasn't the case, the second one turned out to be a chipmunk. The chipmunk was doing the same things as the squirrel. Anyhow, it is fun learning more about how different the environment is here.

P.s. this campsite offers us no shade. Yesterday afternoon it was 99 degrees here and the sun was so intense that it drove us away. We went to an air conditioned library until later in the day. Last night, the temperature went down to about 50.