No, these are not squirrel moguls but rather are typical moguls one would encounter on many blue or black ski runs in Colorado. For any non-skiers out there, moguls are formed on steeper slopes when numerous skiers follow the same route down and push snow to the side on each turn. The snow begins to stack up and as more skiers follow the same line, the moguls grow, sometimes reaching heights of over 6 feet. I have never been a fan of skiing moguls [not enough talent], but if you want to be impressed with mogul skiing, watch these incredible folks ski the bumps.
Now on to the squirrels - we get some pretty big snowfalls in Boulder and it is interesting to watch how the wildlife in our backyard react. We have a nice diversity of critters out back including at least a dozen species of birds, and a few snakes, raccoons, fox, deer and bear. And of course the 'tree rat' squirrels. When they are not eating, they can be quite playful, chasing each other while being ever mindful of the possibility of the fox coming by. When the snow gets really deep, they tend to leap because then cannot make a straight, flat run, and when they do this on the split rail fence, they create their own version of moguls - hence Squirrel Moguls.
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5 comments:
Why did you mention snakes? Yuck! What kind of snakes?
BB- not to worry! All snakes thus far have been of the non-poisonous variety. They seem to really like the ground covers, but I have to question their intelligence just a bit - I have had to fish as least three of them out of our window wells :-) However, I do believe that they help keep our field mouse population under control.
OMG! Snakes in window wells? I fish out toads and once a baby bunny, still alive because we check them every day. I would much rather frolic in a field with a mouse population than a snake population in search of mice. Have never seen a snake on my property though I have seen a couple of water snakes near a pond in the area. My urge on seeing a snake is to whack it to death.
Squirrel moguls! Who knew? Great post Brian. :-)
Thanks Heather - but I am missing something on the reference to Brian :-)
doug
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