Figure 1 – American Red Squirrel at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge, Sudbury, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2016.

Suspicious that I may have been waxing philosophical about the Belle Époque and the Singularity too long, I thought that I should take a break and venture back into the woods. Whereever manking may be headed – arguably a mechanical word – its origins are in nature and the forest. Figure 1 is a photograph that I took the other morning at the Wildlife Refuge of an American Red Squirrel – Tamiasciurus hudsonicus. The other major squirrel species in Massachusetts is the American Grey Squirrel – Sciurus carolinensis, and apparently if you go out at night you will see, or hear, the Northern flying squirrels – Glaucomys sabrinus. I would love to go out at night with an IR camera and photograph the ghostly spirits in the trees.

As one who grew up in New York City, I have always liked squirrels as they are one of the few wild creatures that we see. A friend refers to them as “rats with fluffy tails and good PR.” And, of course, people who feed birds hate them. But actually at this time of year the floor and trees of the pine barrens are filled with chipmunks and squirrels – much to the delight of owls, hawks, and eagles, and of course young children.

Canon T2i with EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens at 250 mm, ISO 1600, Apreture Priority AE Mode at 1/125th sec at f/7.1 with -1 exposure compensation.