Splooting - Squirrel
by Nikolyn McDonald
Title
Splooting - Squirrel
Artist
Nikolyn McDonald
Medium
Photograph
Description
The Eastern gray (grey) squirrels in our backyard often sprawl out like this, lying flat on their bellies on the concrete retaining wall. They look as if they have gone at it so hard and so long that they have simply given up. Who knew that this act of stretching out has a name - splooting. It also has a purpose. It's known as heat dumping. Lying flat on something that is cooler than they are, in this case the precast blocks of the wall, exposes more of the animal's body surface to the cooler surface, helps dissipate body heat, and cools it down. The posture is so comical that I felt it called for a caption, so I added text to the photo: It's been a long day . . .
Uploaded
August 9th, 2023
Embed
Share