A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Funambulus palmarum
Indian Palm Squirrels are also known as the 3 stripe squirrel due to the mix of dark and white stripes on the back of the Indian palm squirrel.It is a tree squirrel about the size of a rat, and actually has five white stripes, although only three of them run the entire length of its body from neck to tail. These squirrels create nests made up from grass and it is in the these nests that they give birth to and wean their young. Typically Indian palm squirrels give birth to 2 or 3 babies which are weaned by the mother until the babies are around 10 weeks old.
There is a beautiful Hindu legend about the Indian palm squirrel. According to the legend, the squirrel helped to construct a bridge for Lord Rama so that he could retrieve his wife Sita, who had been kidnapped. The squirrel worked tirelessly carrying small rocks for the bridge, all the while chanting Lord Rama's name. But the larger and stronger monkeys and bears, who could carry much larger stones, made fun of her for being small and weak. Lord Rama, recognizing the squirrel's dedication and seeing her crying from the other animals' ridicule, lifted her up and stroked her back, and declared that from then on nobody would make fun of her. His fingers as he petted her left the stripes on her back.
14 Comments
Thanks Mark and Jemma :)
lovely!!
Nice story. They are so fast and agile - I love watching them.
Added ...Thank you :)
This would be great on Project Squirrel! http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/3600...
Thank you so much Yuko ...:)
I just turned on my computer and saw this spotting. What a lovely spotting to start a day! Thank you and have a wonderful day (or evening for some people) everybody!
Thank you Karen :)
Nice series & lovely story!
Thank you Satyen and Kerry :-)
Beautiful!
Such a gymnastist. Really cute. Great captures Atul.
Thanks Laurie... Glad you liked the story :-)
Great Spotting. So cute. I love the info and the story!