And the bush has friends to meet him, and their kindly voices greet him, In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,
And he sees the vision splendid of the sunlit plains extended, And at night the wonderous glory of the everlasting stars.

Banjo Paterson (1889)

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Burmese Striped Squirrel

This is video taken at Baan Song Nok, south of Bangkok, of a Burmese Striped Squirrel feeding on some bananas. I came across this guy feeding near the small carpark. Normally you only see these guys moving very quickly among the dense forest trees, but this one was used to people and just wanted his morning feed of banana!









Here's some info about these nice little squirrels.

The Himalayan, or Burmese, Striped Squirrel is largely a species of montane, forested areas usually above 700 metres elevation. It's almost exclusively arboreal in habits, preferring tall forests, fruit trees and coconut palms.

The species is small in size and it can easily be overlooked as it frantically moves from tree to tree searching for their food source - mainly insects. The striped pattern serves as an effective camouflage on fissured tree trunks.

The thickness and length of the alternating cream and dark brown dorsal stripes is the key identifying feature, and is diagnostic in distinguishing it from other, larger striped squirrels.

The species ranges from the Himalayas through northern Burma and southern China to Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia.

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