Tag: Nature Photo Challenge #28

This week, Denzil, in his Nature Photo Challenge, is eager to see what shots of wild animals we can come up with. Let’s see what I can find round here in the UK.

Squirrels, for sure. Grey squirrels certainly. They were first introduced to England from America in 1876 as an ornament to the gardens of stately homes, and by 1930, had largely eliminated our native red squirrels: though I have seen them, rarely, in parts of the Lake District and in Scotland. I have to admit this red squirrel was spotted in Spain.

What else?

• Rabbits by the score emerge at dusk to start nibbling.
• Hedgehogs have become depressingly rare. This photo is older than I’d like it to be.
• I came upon this toad on a riverside walk near home.
• One photo is very close to home. Field mice start to move into our kitchen as autumn arrives. This fellow is in a humane trap before being moved on and out. We don’t kid ourselves that this is super-humane. Dumping the poor creature in nearby but unfamiliar countryside is not likely to end well. But what to do?

I’m going to visit my son and family in London for the next two shots, because I see far more foxes there than here in the countryside. Recently, the house next door to them remained empty for a few summer weeks. A fox family took advantage.

The deer in nearby Studley Royal Deer Park are not exactly wild – but they’re not tame either- they’re never handled by humans: and some stags escape into the wild for their holidays before returning in time for the rut. Truly wild deer are common here, but not keen on photo opportunities: so here are two groups from the Deer Park: fallow deer in the shot below, and red deer stags in the featured photo.

We shouldn’t end though without a trip to the seaside. Let’s go to the Farne Islands and then to Pembrokeshire to do a spot of seal-spotting.

I’ve found that visiting posts from fellow-bloggers in far-flung parts of the globe has produced sights of -to me- very exotic creatures. I hope at least some of these shots will seem different to them.

Oh, I almost forgot. I seem to have given myself a task: collective nouns for the animals and creatures I feature. Here goes.

Squirrels: a scurry, a dray, a colony, and a squad.
Rabbits:  colony, nest, down, warren, bury, kindle, leash, trace, trip, drove, herd, fluffle, flick, husk, and wrack.
Hedgehogs: a prickle, array.
Toads: a knot,  lump, a nest, a knab, a knob, a squiggle.
Mice: horde, mischief, nest.
Fox: earth, leash, skulk.
Deer: herd, bunch, mob, rangale, bevy, parcel.
Seals: bob, pod, herd, harem, colony, rookery, plump, spring, crash.