If this picture looks right out of Beatrix Potter"s world, we"d say you have a good eye for a story. In 1903, Potter published "The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin," about a cheeky squirrel who taunts an owl with silly riddles until he pushes things too far—narrowly escaping with his life, minus a tail. Potter based Nutkin on the red squirrel, the only native squirrel species in the UK. The red squirrel population saw a steep decline here after humans introduced the larger nonnative Eastern gray squirrel in the late 1800s. But today in the UK, the red squirrel is a protected species, bolstering efforts to keep the gray numbers in check and preserve habitat. Estimates put the red squirrel population in the UK at fewer than 140,000, with the vast majority living in the woods of Scotland, like our little friend here.
The tale of squirrels like Nutkin
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
A long, erratic commute
-
National Park Week: Yosemite National Park, California
-
Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, New York
-
Montreux, Switzerland, and all that jazz
-
Joan charges Riverside Park
-
Yarn bombing in the village of Gurnard, England
-
Riding the bore tide at Turnagain Arm, Cook Inlet, Alaska
-
Over the boardwalk
-
Time for brass bands and beer
-
Acadia transformed
-
It’s oh so quiet
-
A tower of light
-
National Park Week begins
-
Big sky at Big Bend
-
Ahh-tumn
-
Sea fireflies at the seashore
-
May we have this dance?
-
Is that a buzzing sound?
-
Four Sisters, thousands of trees
-
The story of the poinsettia