Female squirrel on a mission

Following my post on acrobatic squirrels, I now know that it is the female squirrel who shows the most acrobatic moves, eating seeds upside down. Have a look at these pictures, paying particular attention to her rear feet. Amazing claws. These are good acrobatic moves, aren't they? I wonder how hard it must be for her to hold food in her mouth in that position....

Squirrel eating nuts

I have squirrels coming to our garden to eat the peanuts we leave out for the birds. I am quite fascinated by their paws. They look so much like little hands. So I decided to film one squirrel eating and use my zoom to focus on its paws. Very long claws! If you would like to view the 51-second clip on Youtube, go to http://youtu.be/Iq9MlitZMa8. In the meantime, here are a couple of still images.