I actually quite like squirrels. But I do find that their antics are a lot more attractive, a lot more fun, in a park in Virginia far far away from the birdseed on my back deck than they are at home. Strange how that works. Virginia had a cold snap while I was there, being at the edge of the Polar Vortex…it was 5 above zero on Tuesday morning, but by mid-day Thursday the temperatures were back up in the mid-forties, and the Squirrels were making up for lost time. Lots of foraging going on…but also lots of what I can only call play…unless of course there really is a Squirrel Olympics…then it would definitely be practice. This aspiring Squirrel acrobat was testing him (or her) self against gravity. How long can I cling? How flat can I get? It was such an odd pose that it tempted me to take way too many pictures…all of which are just about identical.

Canon SX50HS. Program with – 1/3rd EV exposure compensation and iContrast. ISO 320 @ 1/1000th @ f6.5. Processed in Snapseed on the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014. Cropped slightly for composition.