Did you spot the squirrel in this morning’s post? Maybe you got it. I didn’t because, as Matthew said, “Oh it moved when I took it so it looks less squirrel like though if you zoom in lots you can just about make it out.”
I couldn’t see it it, and even in the reveal that Matthew sent me (below) it doesn’t looks like a squirrel when you zoom in. Matthew says that his daughter got it, though.
Well, here’s Matthew’s reveal:
Does this look like a squirrel? I say it’s just a blob! Bonus points for those who can identify the species (LOL).
Looks like Wilkin & Sons Tiptree Little Scarlet preserves – but maybe that’s just because I’m eating Wilkin & Sons Tiptree Little Scarlet preserves!
… seriously the other blob looked like it had ears. To the right – on the tip.. of the tree…
Tiptree…
… is there something in this Wilkin & Sons Tiptree Little Scarlet preserves?!?
Are you joking?
Is he joking? What do squirrels look like where he lives?
Some people got it.
I’ll go for Sciurus carolinensis.
(On the grounds that it’s likely to be the only species of squirrel where Matthew lives.)
My field guide to British mammals (published 2017) shows a pocket of Sciurus vulgaris distribution running from Liverpool to about Manchester. Might have to see the squirrel to be sure of the species– Matthew will have to ID it for us.
GCM
As is the case with many things that come to the UK from the US, we have been powerless to stop Sciurus carolinensis from having a huge effect on our tiny islands. BTW I can’t complain, as we had it coming. For 200 years, we did far worse to half the globe and gave them no choice either.
But joking aside, there are very, very few Sciurus vulgaris in lowland England these days. However, were I to look in my garden there might be two or three greys bounding about.
My friend works at a wildlife trust covering Northern England. Her main role is in maintaining woodland habitats and she’s assured me there are virtually no red squirrels left in lowland areas. The closest real habitats to either Manchester or Leeds (where I live, over t’Pennines) are in the pine forests in the Dales and Lake District. She also told me that red populations are helped by getting Pine Martens back into the woods. Apparently they only eat the greys, but I might be wrong on that.
I remember seeing red squirrels quite regularly in Yorkshire woodlands when I was a kid (born in the mid 1970’s). I haven’t seen any in nearby woods since the early 80s. We go up to the lakes quite frequently and the difference there is amazing. They are everywhere, especially in pine woodland, it’s so lovely!
I saw the blob, but didn’t know if it was a squirrel or not. So I “found it” but with little confidence.
Same here. I even downloaded the thing and embiggened several times, and looked at the blob after the reveal. Nada, for sure! It could just as well have been in the nest to the left of the blob.
I bet that a program using maximum likelihood could find it – not all blobs are equal – the position on the limb, the envelope, etc.
Low resolution, is the idea. It has been done (on non-squirrel systems)…
So a technically difficult Spot The ___, indeed.
You know it’s a difficult puzzle when you can’t see it even after the reveal.