The Secret Life of Squirrels by Nancy Rose

“They were always looking the same,” Nancy said. I thought, ‘Let’s try to get some of those.’ ”īut after a while, the squirrels bored her. Ten years ago, she took a digital photography course and started taking pictures in her back yard. A onetime home economics teacher and school guidance counselor, Nancy had always been crafty. Nancy’s slide into squirrelography was gradual. “Those who know what I do think I’m kind of crazy,” she said. She stands at her tripod-mounted camera and waits for the squirrels to come. Then she lures squirrels - red squirrels are the species up there - with peanuts. Nancy erects tiny sets on her backyard deck in a Halifax suburb and dresses them with squirrel-scaled props. They’re just funny poses.”įunny poses that are the end result of a lot of work. “Or the way they’re standing against something or behind something. “The way their little paws are kind of wrapped around something is pretty much impossible to Photoshop,” she said. “People still think the squirrels are Photoshopped into the scenes,” said Nancy, who lives in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Three of her books have been published in the United States and Canada. She photographs squirrels engaging in human activities: mailing a letter, cooking dinner, doing the laundry, vacuuming, going camping. In fact, squirrels are as vital to Nancy’s work as paints are to a painter or stone is to a sculptor - or, perhaps more accurately, as a ballet dancer is to a choreographer. “I’d say, ‘No, I like squirrels,’ ” Nancy said. The confused real estate agents would invariably reply: “Are you scared of squirrels?” (Oct.When Nancy Rose and her husband were house hunting last year, the first question she’d ask whenever they visited a property was, “Are there squirrels?” Agent: Jackie Kaiser, Westwood Creative Artists. The storyline is little more than a vehicle to showcase Rose’s photos, but those images should pique the interest of casual readers and prospective photographers, who can try the wildlife photography tips she offers. “ will inspect and explore anything if peanuts are involved,” Rose says in a q&a at book’s end, explaining how she has created a photo studio for her miniature scenes off her house’s deck. Peanuts and his cousin “playing” chess, dining at a picnic table (with a cocktail umbrella for shade), and enjoying a cake topped with acorns.

Images of twigs frame several photos, which show Mr. Most squirrels would find that piece quite difficult to play”), reading, and tidying up before the arrival of Cousin Squirrel. Peanuts, a “rather unusual squirrel” who is seen tending to a miniature gas grill, playing a tiny piano (“His favorite piece is Moonlight Sonata. Now, she crafts a picture-book narrative around several such photos, introducing Mr. Photographer Rose’s photographs of squirrels interacting with miniature props of her own making earned her a following on the photo website Flickr.

The Secret Life of Squirrels by Nancy Rose