Summer fur is yellowish-brown. White underparts. Bushy, grey tail. Ears without tufts. Size: Head and body about 25 — 30cm; tail about 20 — 25cm.
Weight: g. Life-span: Some live up to 10 years in the wild although most only manage years. Population: The grey squirrel was first introduced to Great Britain as a fashionable addition to country estates and parks such as Woburn in Bedfordshire. After many release and escapes, the grey population began to increase dramatically at the beginning of this century. The grey squirrel is diurnal and most active at dawn and dusk, searching for available food.
Compared with the red squirrel, it spends more time foraging and feeding on the ground than in the trees. It is also very agile in the trees and can run along slender twigs, leaping from tree to tree. The long, muscular hind legs and short front legs help it to leap. The hind feet, longer than the front, are double-jointed to help the squirrel scramble head first up and down the tree trunk. Sharp claws are useful for gripping bark and the tail helps the squirrel to balance.
If a squirrel should fall, it can land safely from heights of about 9m 30ft. The grey squirrel can leap more than 6 metres! Squirrels have good eyesight and often sit upright on a vantage point to look around them. They have a keen sense of smell too! The grey squirrel builds itself a nest, or drey, about the size of a football. Made of twigs, often with the leaves still attached. It is built fairly high in a tree and lined with dry grass, shredded bark, moss and feathers.
A summer drey is usually quite flimsy and lodged among small branches. A squirrel may build several dreys. However, they mainly communicate through their tails, using them as a signalling device; they twitch their tails if they are uneasy or suspicious. Regular routes are scent-marked with urine and glandular secretions. Squirrels identify each other, and food, by smell. During Winter the grey squirrel does not hibernate as it cannot store enough energy to survive for long periods without food.
To survive the lean cold months of Winter a larger, thicker winter drey is built, usually on a strong branch close to the trunk. The squirrel will lie up in the drey in very cold weather, coming out now and then to search out hidden stores of nuts buried in the ground in autumn.
The stored nuts are spread around rather than in a single cache and are found by smell, rather than memory. Often they are not found at all and later may grow, helping the dispersal of trees.
I managed to take a few pictures of a baby and a young adult male that were foraging near each other in the same park. The pen is about 16cm long. Even with the specimens in-hand, assessing age can be somewhat qualitative but when the babies are very young, they are simply more cute than the rest of the population. Your data, combined with that of others around the country, helps us understand more about squirrels and about the nature in your neighborhood!
I have 2 parents and 2 babies born sometime in Summer. They are still a family living in the same tree nest. They eat and play together. Its December. I do feed corn and sunflower seeds and occasionally peanuts. Do squirrels ever stay together as a family?
Monday they are all back. Why do they disappear on the weekend only? If YES , the squirrel is likely injured or orphaned. Take it to the nearest wildlife veterinarian or rehabilitator. If NO , the next step is to identify its age to determine if intervention is needed.
Does the squirrel Have a fluffed-out tail [like a bottle brush]? Have a body longer than 6" [not including the tail]? Approach humans or pets? If YES , this is likely a juvenile squirrel. You do not need to intervene. Even at the young age of 10 to 12 weeks, the squirrel is independent. If the squirrel is approaching humans or pets, try to scare it by making loud noises when it comes near. If NO , this is an infant squirrel.
The wildlife removal specialists at Orkin Canada have the experience and know-how to safely rid your home and property of pests. National coverage, local expertise. With over 30 branches across Canada, our neighbourhood technicians have an in-depth knowledge of your local area, anywhere in the country. Rabbits produce two different types of solid waste, but only one is commonly seen outside of a nest.
Read on to learn about common groundhog feeding habits. Opossums, the only marsupials found in North America, are slowly expanding their territory into some Canadian provinces.
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