The red squirrels of Snaizeholme

Our house is just about at the end of Dentdale. When you go further up the dale, past the Sportsman's Inn and the Arten Gill Viaduct you reach the end, and climb up to the fells and the pass at Newby Head. Turn left, and you head down through Widdale to Hawes, in Wensleydale. (You can see Cowgill and Lea Yeat at the bottom left of the map - that's basically where we are).

Hawes is a really interesting town (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawes).

In 1992 the creamery, the main business, shut down. It was reopened by some of the former employees and is now thriving, thanks to Wallace and Gromit's fondness for Wensleydale cheese (apparently this is true). Tuesday is market day, so we bought some.

This spirit has been continued by the village and they now run their library, post office and bus service as local co-operatives, using volunteers and part-time employees. It has a really lively feel and lots of independent shops, which is unusual.

Anyway, we weren't really in Hawes to see Hawes per se, but to take one of the Little White Buses run by the co-op to the Red Squirrel trail in Snaizeholme. Yes! Red squirrels!

Several land owners have got together and made a red squirrel sanctuary out of their conifer forest. The Dales Rangers provide a feeding station (for squirrels), and an observation point (for viewers) - although the squirrels sometimes forget the distinction. Like all wildlife viewing adventures there is always a chance of getting wet and/or cold and/or bored for nothing....but not with these squirrels.

There is something to spot in this photo, but it is not a squirrel.

Red squirrels have tufty ears and white tummies and are quite small compared with grey squirrels. As you would expect, they are just like Squirrel Nutkin, and similarly frisky and playful. As we watched they ate things, dug little holes, darted about, chased each other up trees in a spiral around the trunk, and undulated as they ran along - it's like their body moves in waves. Their paws are very hand-like and agile. Their colour varies quite a bit and after a while you can tell one from the other. You could watch them forever!

Very squirelly bahviour. They move at lightening speed, so getting good shots is tough.

Look how squirelly he is!

Tufty ears!!

Up trees...

In the grass...

As we emerged from the forest we could see the weather changing...

So we went back into the forest and did some more squirrel watching. Lots of birds and other wildlife too...a pair of pheasants. Last year we struggled to get good pheasant photographs. The jinx continues. F-ing pheasants. Have a good laugh at these!