Drizzle decorated vibrissae

Vibrissae

Hairs are very sensitive to touch, as everyone knows, and squirrels have long, stiff hairs called vibrissae, dedicated to the detection of tactile stimuli. There are a dozen or two vibrissae on the side of the nose above the mouth and three to six vibrissae on the side of the cheek. There are usually four vibrissae above the eye, rooted on the front edge, several on the underside of the chin, and several farther back but above the throat. There are also vibrissae near the wrist, at the lower end of the forearm just above the lateral side of the wrist. All whiskers are vibrissae, but not all vibrissae are whiskers.

Squirrels: The Animal Answer Guide, Richard W. Thorington, and Katie Ferrell


Dismal gray day with drizzle changing to steady rain. I picked up a wheelbarrow full of sticks yesterday in the weak sun, it hardly made a dent in the sticks littering the yard, what a winter, nature is quite the arborist.