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Project Noah Nature School
Microsciurus flaviventer ssp
In honor of Squirrel Appreciation Day (January 21). I wanted to post pictures of one of the rarest squirrels I have seen. As some of you are already starting January 21, I am posting it now. This tiny adult squirrel is 5-6" long (12-15 cm) excluding the tail which is about the same length but is normally carried in typical squirrel fashion, curled above the body. The ground color is dark brown with light brown, black and silver hairs sparsely appearing on the top, sides and tail, while the underside is light brown to gray. There is a small white/yellowish spot behind each ear (foto #2).
Found in a tree cut down in the Amazon rainforest of SE Ecuador (700 masl).
We had an animal rescue operation of sorts along with a snake exhibit I maintained for educational purposes. This pygmy squirrel was brought to me for snake food. I always accept such offerings, but then release them back into the wild. This was just too cute to feed to a snake even though I normally put snakes first.
Spotted on Jan 20, 2022
Submitted on Jan 20, 2022
7 Comments
Thanks Neil and Mel. Here in Nebraska we enjoy mostly the Red squirrel (Sciurus niger) which comes in both red and black. It's interesting that the scientific name is "niger" or black, however the black red squirrel is by far the rarest of the two.
Just lovely Tukup, feel good factor on all levels :-)
Beautiful spotting, Tukup. So small, and that's the adult! Thank you very much for sharing this :) Love the notes too!
Thanks for the nice comments Francis, Brian and Sukanya. I always enjoyed releasing the cute or rare critters that people brought me. Seemed appropriate for Squirrel Appreciation Day.
What a cutie. Lovely story too. A totally new species for me. Thanks, Tukup.
Wow, Tukup! This is amazing! I've never seen or heard of them.
What a cute little guy! I'm glad it didn't get fed to the snakes.