Ireland's Highest Squirrel

Alun

Was out hiking today in the Wicklow Mountains and along with the usual fauna such as deer, hares and a couple of red kites, I saw a grey squirrel. Not unusual, you might say, except this one was on the top of Lugnaquilla! Those that know the mountain will know the summit is a flattish, featureless grassy plateau, not a single tree for miles in all directions. Not only this he was actually aiming for the summit cairn, being hounded by the odd raven or two. I have 10 other witnesses so I really wasn't imagining things, although I didn't manage to get a photo.

Any idea what a squirrel would be doing up at 925m ASL without a tree to be seen? My only thought would be that it could have been caught lower down by a BOP of some sort and accidentally dropped, but apart from that I'm stumped.

recedite

I'd say there were other people there when you arrived, and more arriving when you left. All day long there are people sitting there eating their sandwiches. Its pretty much like a park bench from a squirrel's point of view. And plenty of dry spaces to find shelter in underneath the rocks when the weather is bad.

It is surprising that he found his way up there. Maybe he followed a breadcrumb trail :pac:
Very enterprising anyway. The only problem is, its likely to be a celibate lifestyle up there. A monk squirrel.

Alun

That's true, there would indeed be a steady supply of discarded food scraps etc., and shelter in amongst the rocks on the cairn. If he's a regular resident there though, I'm sure I'd have seen him there before as I'm up there regularly.

The nearest forested area would be the forest to the right of the Ow River which comes up to within about a kilometre of the summit, so he's a good way away from all his (her?) friends and family

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

A kilometre is absolutely no distance for a grey squirrel to cover.

recedite

I think that forest is fairly sterile from a Grey squirrel point of view. Conifer type monoculture, it would suit the Reds better.
Maybe this squirel will become a celebrity; posing for photos etc..Wicklow's answer to Fungi the dolphin?

Keplar240B

Penguin, Depressed... Werner Herzog

recedite

That kind of behaviour is nature's wildcard. It usually ends in disaster for the individual, but every now and again one hits the jackpot, and the species then leaps forward to occupy a new niche or a new level.
Metalworking was thought to have been brought to Britain by an individual who somehow travelled all the way from the Alps. It must have been a tough journey, but he lived as a king for the rest of his life.

dodderangler

Misleading title. Thought this was about a squirrel getting stoned.