Red squirrels aren’t usually keen on sharing their dining room with others. The presence of other squirrels and birds is seldom tolerated, especially when black oil sunflower seeds are on the menu.
But sometimes, on very rare occasions, a special someone comes along whose company can actually enhance the dining experience. Who knew snowshoe hares had more than just an interest in large families to bring to the conversation, or a palate for fine seeds?
Snow continues to cover so much of the ground this spring that animals seem more open to eating outside their usual fare and tolerating the presence of other species. These two have become regular dining partners near the back deck. I wonder if they’ll continue their ‘friendship’ once the snow cover is gone and dandelions are ripe for the eating.
Text and photographs copyright Amy-Lynn Bell 2015
I hope you find out soon whether they’ll share dandelions!
Me too arlingwoman. Coltsfoot are already out, so the dandelions can’t be far behind 🙂
Sweet (and unexpected) shots. It’s always amazing and fascinating when you can capture the interaction of multiple species.
Thanks Mike. It truly is fascinating how they can interact like that with one another, especially at this time of year when I’d expect they would be more territorial than usual.
I know the squirrell is holding the seed and taking the seed out from the middle … but how is the Hare doing it ? Lovely pictures.
Sybil, I have no idea. I think the hare is eating them whole. Will have to take a close look at any pellets I find nearby to see if any shells are in them 😉
Reminds me of breakfasting with squirrels when I I would place bread crumbs on window sill and they would scurry across…got me late to work! But squirrels are restless eaters, always on watching out.