Sciuridae
 Sciurus niger
(fox squirrel)

Image Caption:
A fox squirrel runs from one grove to another.  Squirrels can ‘gallop’ up to seven meters per second (16 mph) (Koprowski, 1994) to evade predators, reduce potential exposure to predators, or I suppose just get to their next meal faster.  Like horses, as Eadweard Muybridge’s photograph proved in 1877, a squirrel’s gallop, too, involves a time when no feet touch the ground.

<<  Gallop                                                                             >>

Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger rufiventer) Running
Works Cited:

Koprowski, J. L.  (1994).  Sciurus niger.  Mammalian Species (479).  The American Society of Mammalogists.  (University of Arizona Link).

Image Location: United States, South Dakota, Brookings
Image Date: 2008DEC06
Image Species: Sciurus niger rufiventer
(EXIF Information is accurate – stamped in UTC).

Web Page and Pictures By Peter Leitheiser
Updated: 2009JAN01