Photo courtesy of Russell Smith,
Wildlife Rehabilitator - Florida
Take a look out your window or take a walk or bike ride on one of the local paths and the mammal you're most likely to see is the Eastern Gray Squirrel. The Gray Squirrel loves forested areas containing live oak, cypress, black gum, sweet gum, and magnolia trees. Its favorite den is a hollow tree. If there is none available, it will build a nest out of twigs and leaves and line it with shredded bark, plant fibers, and grass. Gray squirrels love to play tag with each other as well as with dogs, whom they love to tease by leaping from one tree top to another.The Gray Squirrel is distinguished from its cousin, the Fox Squirrel by its smaller size (up to 20 percent smaller) and by the white tipped hairs that give its coat a silver grey cast.
The Gray Squirrel's signature is its bushy tail. The Gray Squirrel uses its tail as a shield when fighting, a blanket in cold weather, and, sometimes, as an umbrella during rain storms.
The Gray Squirrel weighs all of half an ounce at birth and reaches its adult size (about the size of a cat) six months later.
The Gray Squirrel's favorite foods are "mast" (nuts), particularly acorns. The Gray Squirrel stocks its winter larder by burying up to 10,000 nuts each fall. It also feeds on grapes, fungi, grasses, larval and adult insects, and amphibians. Gray Squirrels are notorious for stealing free meals from bird feeders. This crime would be easier to pardon if they ate the full mix of bird seed, instead of tossing all the small seeds to the ground while digging out the sunflower seeds.
While our local Gray Squirrels become relatively tame from frequent exposure to humans, you should never attempt to feed a squirrel by hand. They sometimes carry rabies.
To show the squirrel how it's done.
We've heard a couple of different explanations for why squirrels dodge moving cars. One is that when a squirrel is startled, it automatically runs to "base" - its tree - even if that base is on the wrong side of the street. The second is that the squirrels try to confuse oncoming cars by suddenly changing directions, just as they do when being pursued by a dog.
Baby squirrels sometimes fall out of a nest that has been damaged in a storm or by an aggressive male squirrel. The squirrel may not be an orphan at all, but may have just fallen from its nest. If one squirrel has fallen from a damaged nest, others may have fallen out as well. Search the immediate area. Look under bushes and fallen leaves where other babies may have taken cover. Spencer Nickle recommends that you warm the baby squirrel in your hands or by holding it close to your body and then place it at the base of the tree. Lock up any lose dogs and cats and keep watch, from a distance, for one to two hours. Given time, the mother will return and retrieve her baby. The scent of humans will not stop the mother from taking back her baby. If the weather is cold, line a box with some towels and a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel. Place the baby in the box and the box at the base of the tree.If the mother squirrel has not returned for her young within two hours, you probably do have an orphan on your hands. Contact a local wildlife reahibilitator for assistance. Our local baby squirrel rehabilitator is Elaine Kyle. You can reach Ms. Kyle at 281-592-8204 or e-mail her at pepk@earthlink.net .
Davis, William. The Mammals of Texas. Austin, Texas: Texas Parks and Wildlife Information-Education Division. 1974.Nordyke, Lewis. "Trooper of the Tree Tops." Reader's Digest Books. Marvels and Mysteries of Our Animal World. Pleasantville, New York: Coronet Books. 1964.
Eastern Grey Squirrel
Squirrel Wildlife Rehabilitation
Terry Portillo © 1999