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:
-
Happy Bee Day to you
-
International Jazz Day
-
Where is this gorgeous peak?
-
Procida, Italy
-
A river runs through rice fields
-
Womens History Month
-
A hermitage with a view
-
Bird’s-eye view of the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
-
Sands of time
-
The most Instagrammable bird?
-
Lake Peipus, Estonia
-
Gray days ahead in Monterey
-
What s going on in this sky?
-
Here there be dragons
-
Welcome to the pack
-
Loud waters
-
The dry days of winter in Etosha
-
Celebrating whales—and a whale of a tale
-
April Fools Day
-
Road-trip worthy attraction in the heartland