Mutual affection - ground squirrels

When going into the drier parks such as the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park of the Mountain Zebra National Park, one of my first quests is to find the ground squirrels. They are definitely my favourite rodent and I can spend hours photographing them and watching their antics.

Grooming time in the Kgalagadi.

One of the advantages of a big bushy tail in a hot climate, is that it doubles up as a sun shade.

Romance in the Kgalagadi - ground squirrel style

When I first came across ground squirrels in the wild they very quickly became my favourite rodent. Suzi and I can sit for hours watching their antics and and before we know it we've clicked away many gigs of space on our SD cards.

I managed to capture this little interlude at Nossob in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, when this fellow had designs on one of the "ladies", who very clearly was not interested.

There is nothing subtle about this male ground squirrel in hot pursuit of this female at Nossob.

Gotcha..........or so he thinks, as he eagerly continues his pursuit......

.........it's now time for some action.......... or so he thinks............

"Not to day old fellow," the one in the background seems to say, as she disappears into the burrow.

My new favourite rodent

Many people who travel tyo game parks have one goal in mind and that is to see the big animals, preferably the big five. Suzie and I on the other hand take pleasure in all the animals, big and small. On a recent trip to the Mountain Zebra National Park we came across a few colonies of ground squirrels, which came out to forage in the late afternoon, which kept us occupied for ages.

They were very entertaining to watch, as they scuttled about looking for whatever it is they eat, stopping to look around and flapping their bushy tails up and down.

At the first sign of danger there would be a mad dash, as they beat a hasty retreat to their burrows, but they were soon on the go again.