Huge peaks in the distance, massive animals proudly strutting the fields, and sheep with horns so big the obvious fact must be mentioned in their name. The visual impact is so great, you might miss the tiniest critters whose diminutive stature makes them a challenge to spot. Their desire to go unnoticed generally leads to most of us walking past them and missing the whole scene.
Luck was in my favor as I drove through the Lamar Valley. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a strangely brown spot in an otherwise sea of bright white snow. Admittedly, I first thought it was bison poop. No offense, tiny one. But as I got closer, I realized it was a wee ground squirrel with a gorgeous, although possibly disadvantageously, brown coat who was poking his head out of a burrow in the deep snow. I was determined to take his portrait.
Ethel was quickly parked, my surroundings carefully examined prior to exiting the relative safety of the car and the telephoto lens was affixed to the camera. I crept up to the snow bank and began a belly crawl in the direction of the squirrel. Each moment, I expected the small squirrel to dash into the hole and disappear forever. Luckily, this never happened. His little head and black whiskers just stared at me with a skeptical look as I slowly crept closer through the snow. My luck didn’t hold forever though because in a flash, the animal disappeared, and I scolded myself for trying to get too close.
Determined to get some pictures, I just lay still on the snow hoping to see the little brown head pop up, possibly his curiosity getting the better of him. After 10 minutes, a whiskered face with black eyes reappeared and I began taking pictures.
After about 20 minutes of laying perfectly still, the tiny squirrel climbed higher and higher out of the hole, eventually showing his whole body. The brown coat really surprised me. How an animal as small as a ground squirrel could evade predators with such a conspicuous color was beyond my comprehension. The squirrel must have been quite proud of the colors though because he was damn near the most majestic thing going.
Satisfied I’d taken all the images within my skills to capture, my crawl back to Ethel began. As I moved, the squirrel quickly disappeared into the little hole. Encountering the tiny critter was a special part of the day. It reminded me to take care in looking for subjects to photograph. Sometimes the most interesting animals to see are the tiniest. I wished the animal good luck in the spring and headed for the Grand Tetons in search of Elk.
