Fox Squirrel...

William Wise Photo Nature Notes is a wildlife, birding and nature photography blog documenting the beauty, design and wonder of God’s creation. -- "What a wildly wonderful world, God! You made it all, with Wisdom at Your side, made earth overflow with your wonderful creations." Psalms 104 The Message

Fox Squirrel; Oconee County, Georgia.

Friday, 4:10 PM - ​While passing through Watkinsville on my back-roads drive home from work, another black squirrel caught my eye. I am used to only seeing the Eastern Gray Squirrels in my area.

On my last encounter, I wasn’t quite ready and only managed some blurry shots. But this guy was different. He was standing on his rear legs under an oak tree on the right hand side of the road as I passed by. Wanting a better shot, I turned the truck around and headed back. Upon returning, he had crossed the road into the front yard of a nice, rustic, country home.

Black Fox Squirrel, Watkinsville, Georgia, USA.

Surprisingly, he didn’t take off when I pulled into the gravel driveway. I fired a few shots from the open truck window. I didn’t want to push my luck, but I put it in park and opened my door. Still, he didn’t take off!  I was then able to come around the front of the truck. He stood posed with an acorn in his mouth! This guy was so compliant I was able to pull use two lenses! He watched and waited while I switched to my 300mm lens. I really didn’t want to miss documenting this encounter!
 
Not seeing many Fox Squirrels in my area, I thought my last encounter was a melanistic Eastern Gray. But after sharing my encounter on iNaturalist, I found that Fox Squirrels aren’t too rare for this area.  ​

Watkinsville, Oconee County, Georgia
Forecast: Sunny with a 30% chance of thunderstorms; high near 84°
Sunrise 6:43 AM; Sunset 8:26 PM
Day length: 13 hours, 51 minutes
Moon: 97% waning gibbous

Black squirrel with acorn in mouth. The black squirrel occurs as a melanistic subgroup of both the eastern gray squirrel and the fox squirrel. Watkinsville, GA, USA