Glacier National Park Critters – Ground Squirrels!

Some of my favorite perks about parks, in this case Glacier National Park, are the critters. To me, critters are soothing. Guests would look at me funny when I’d eagerly rush off for bear-calls.

I featured a few pictures of Baby Bear, as well as a roaming teeny-bopper bear, in the last few posts on Glacier. I spotted elk and deer, and once an adolescent gangling-legged moose.

A coworker had a mountain lion pop out of the woods in front of him. Surprised,  both the coworker and lion scurried off unharmed. My coworker was pretty awed, as the lions don’t show themselves often and you’re pretty lucky if you get to see one!

But some of my favorites didn’t contain the drama-inducing factor of the animals above, but were in fact the humble ground squirrels. They’re personable little critters!

Many people mistake these guys for prairie dogs. They’re close, they’re in that family.

When I would go out on patrol at Rising Sun, I’d take the long way around and stop and cluck and chirp with the curious ground squirrels. They’d come a little closer and pop upright on their hind legs and peer at what I’m sure they thought was the funny human. They squeak and whistle. I’ve read this is mostly just to send out a warning, but I have to disagree. I’m pretty sure I had full-out conversations with some of them.

Taking my time like that also provided the opportunity to chat with some of the cabin guests pretty extensively, which I always enjoyed. I talked and interacted with people from all over the world – as well as fuzzy critters!

The ground squirrels at Lake McDonald Lodge, when I shifted over there, were spoiled rotten. Not with illicit feeding, but just attention and admiration! They were very used to humans. They’d pop to attention as if to say, “Look at us! Aren’t we so adorable?” I had two that befriended me. One in particular would hang out by the guard office and on one occasion wandered right in while I sat there. We nodded at each other. He waddled around, checking things out at leisure before exiting again.

Sometimes they’d just hang out with me, checking out the passers-by, helping me answer guest inquiries, and sometimes just flattening out in the dirt on really hot days, but still providing some companionship:

What was that you were say….SQUIRREL!!

Sometimes some of the smallest, non-dramatic things can be some of the most pleasant.

Magictunes Corner:

Here’s Tool with The Pot. I picked a live version because Maynard Keenan’s live singing is pretty phenomenal…and Tool’s official videos are a little…ohhhh…ummmm…different. Yeah, I’ll go with that word.

If you’re wondering where on earth the vocalist is, Maynard prefers to hang out in the back, out of the spotlight. This band is considerably more reserved (live) than Korn but very put-together both with lyrics and presentation. No auto-tune here, they sound as good live many times as their studio-versions.

Speaking of Korn, I’ll throw some Spike In My Veins in here. Jon, sans kilt this time, (along with bandmates Head, Munky, Fieldy and Ray) – is referring to information overload and media ‘entertainment’, with a jab about your unnoticed disappearing privacy while being distracted by the media’s ‘spikes in your veins’. The irony that Korn is also in ‘the media’ is not lost on me. This song has a great BANG! chorus.