PHOTOGRAPHY

Squirrels in My Camp

When you’re too close to use the zoom lens

I don’t know what it is about them but I always loved them. Since a child. Maybe it's the sound of their name in German. Maybe it's their cuteness. Maybe the quirkiness.

Squirrels have always drawn my attention to them. Not only since Dennett starting posting incredible photographs of them. But since I saw her awesome results, my interest in these animals sparked again.

Back home in Germany I never really got a shot of a squirrel. They are too fast. Too shy. Too high up in the trees.

But things look different in my second home. In Namibia, they do run around everywhere. They are fast too. And run away as soon as they feel vibrations on the ground. But not everywhere.

In Etosha, I experienced the opposite. I had to back off for them not to touch me. Kind of. I’ve never seen such tame squirrels. Ever. I couldn’t focus because the squirrel came too close to my lens. My zoom lens requires a distance of 60cm (2 feet) to the object in order to focus.

Guess what. This squirrel came closer than that.

Etosha National Park is one of the most famous tourist attractions in the country and one of the best places in Namibia to go on a game drive.

The camps in the park have always been fully booked months in advance. Not so when we arrived yesterday. The lady at reception said we were the only ones at the moment. Nobody else was staying at the camp.

We couldn’t choose which campsite we wanted and took over four campsites at once in the end.

I’ve seen squirrels already in lots of places in Namibia. On the side of the road. In the desert. Over the rocks. They seem to live anywhere. And everywhere.

But I never managed to capture them. Until today. Already in the parking lot in front of the reception, I got a few shots.

In our camp, it continued. There were in total three squirrels sharing the campsite with us. And these two were constantly running around chasing each other.

Anything in their way they would jump up on and run over it. Just not when they faced my partner. They ran against his leg and he kicked one off. But they just continued running behind each other.

We threw some leftovers in the grass. That’s where these tiny creatures kept on going back to feed on it. They would pick something, run out of the grass and sit on the table, the chairs, or whatever they found.

The other squirrel was super curious. It would climb up on pretty much anything we placed outside. And inside. It even jumped once on the back of the Bakkie. But there we chased it off.

Don’t come close to our food. We spilled enough on the floor. Help yourself with that.

This photo I added to show you how close they come. They aren’t shy at all. Lying on the ground trying to capture it I struggled because it walked upright at my lens. It almost touched the lens.

Couldn’t capture that obviously. But I could place the GoPro right in front of the squirrel. While it was eating. I think they would actually eat out of my hand. Without hesitating.

But I don’t want to feed them. They get fed enough around here. And find enough food. Everywhere.

As you can see we had pasta Bolognese today. Some of it got spilled on the floor. The pasta pieces they picked out first. They would take a piece, run away, and eat it. Then come back for the next one.

But the mince they would leave. None of the squirrels would touch the meat. Even when there was no more pasta left. They would each come and smell it. That’s about it.

Only later this one squirrel came back for it. While the other two were once again chasing each other. While undisturbed from his friends this lovely squirrel could finally eat all the mince.

Thanks for cleaning up after us, I must say. And thank you so much for all the stunning photographs you let me take! I had such joy trying to capture your tiny faces and hands.

Anyone else seeing squirrels at the moment? Or has a collection of photos with squirrels at home? Create a post and tag me in it. Would love to see what you got!

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Anne Bonfert is a traveler. Photographer. Writer. Teacher. Skydiving instructor. Adventure enthusiast. Nature lover. And fell in love with the African continent.