Tour Scotland 4K Leap Day February 29th wildlife camera nature travel video of the sight and sounds of a young Grey Squirrel spotted today eating peanuts on an afternoon visit and trip to my cottage garden in Scone by Perth, Perthshire, Britain, United Kingdom. As its name suggests, this squirrel typically has a grey coat with white undersides, though the coat colour can also be quite brown at times. Grey squirrels are mainly herbivorous, eating acorns, hazel nuts, berries, fungi, buds and shoots, and even bark. The grey squirrel was introduced to Great Britain in the middle of the 19th century. There is now an estimated population of 2 million making them much more common than the native red squirrel. They arrived in England from North America and are now one of Britain's most well known and frequently seen mammals, with an estimated population of 2 million. It is a myth that grey squirrels chase red squirrels away. Greys are just more adaptable to new surroundings. Being in nature, or even viewing scenes of nature, reduces anger, fear, and stress and increases pleasant feelings. Exposure to nature not only makes you feel better emotionally, it contributes to your physical wellbeing. This February will be a little longer than usual. It's a leap year, and in 2024, Leap Day falls on Friday, Februaru 29. The calendar oddity means this year is actually 366 days long, instead of the regular 365. Leap years exist because while the world follows a 365 day Gregorian calendar, it actually takes the planet a little bit more than a year to orbit the sun. It takes Earth 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to orbit the sun, and while that is rounded down to the 365 days we recognize as a typical year, those nearly six extra hours don't disappear. Instead, leap years are added to account for the difference. The extra day keeps calendars and seasons from gradually falling out of sync and impacting harvesting, planting and other cycles based on the seasons. Without Leap Days, in 100 years, calendars would be 24 days off, and in 700 years, Northern Hemisphere summers would begin in December.. Of interest to folks with ancestry, genealogy or Scottish Family Roots in Scotland who may wish to visit one day. Find things to see and do in Scotland where you are always welcome
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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