Nature News: Gray squirrels are to be enjoyed, not scorned
Gray squirrels, like pigeons, are one of those animals we tend to vilify. I was watching one today. It was busy hanging out (literally), dangling from a branch as it gorged on the sunflower seeds in my squirrel-proof feeder.
It spent some more time chasing away birds before perching above the feeder gnawing on its plunder. This was a nice-looking squirrel with its gray and rusty back and tail, white underbelly and adorable furry feet clutching sunflower seeds while it stared fixedly at my camera. After my initial annoyance at its disruption of the birds that I wanted at my feeder, I realized that here is a gorgeous animal, in the prime of its life, native to the area. Why shouldn’t it have as much a right to my bird food as the birds?
Our backyards benefit from their presence. Squirrels help control plant populations by eating seeds and fruits. They are also both predators and prey. While we think of rodents, like squirrels, as being primarily herbivores, according to the USFWS their diet also includes numerous insects, amphibians such as peepers and red-backed salamanders, and, amazingly, birds! The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) site lists cardinals and bald eagles among the prey of gray squirrels - it turns out that gray squirrels are voracious predators of both eggs and nestlings. In turn, squirrels feed a variety of suburban predators - from foxes, weasels and bobcats to hawks and owls.
Gray squirrels vs. red squirrels
I can recognize at least three different gray squirrels who visit my feeder. One is missing part of its tail, the other has a notch in its ear and looks a little mangy, the third is the plump healthy-looking one. They seem to get along fairly well and will often plunder bird feeders located just a couple feet apart with no apparent conflict. This fits with what is known of their behavior. They aren’t as territorial as our other local squirrel - the red squirrel. It is believed that this might have something to do with their food preferences. Gray squirrels have a more diverse food supply and store nuts and seeds in dispersed locations and so therefore need to be able to travel about the woods more freely than the pine-nut hoarding red squirrels who cache large numbers of pinecones in central locations that must be defended.
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While squirrel-watching the other day, I realized I have no idea where these squirrels are when they are not at the bird feeder. A walk through the pine-dominated woods behind my house is generally dominated by the chatter of red squirrels, alarmed by my presence. But where are the gray squirrels? Gray squirrels prefer hardwoods, and will make leaf nests (called dreys) in the late summer and early fall out of leafy branches (the leaves help shed rain) and lined with insulating mosses, shredded bark and grass. These are generally occupied by just one, or sometimes two, squirrels during the milder months.
This time of year, when the cold of winter sets in, they prefer cavity nests in trees where they will be better protected from the cold. Abandoned woodpecker holes are often used, in particular ones with entrance holes less than three or four inches wide-larger entrances allow raccoons, a common predator, entry. According to the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Service, the home range of a gray squirrel varies from one to 25 acres depending upon the habitat and food availability. However, most gray squirrels average a mere 160 feet in their normal daily movements. So, my new goal is to figure out where my backyard squirrels live. Is it across the yard and down in the woods, or in my barn, or my garage? I’m hoping for the woods.
The case for gray squirrels
Gray squirrels are the most commonly-seen animal in our area. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) statistics, they are the second-most fed and watched animals, after birds. So, perhaps we should embrace them rather than vilify them — they aren’t going away. They are encouraged by our presence. We put out food, they come and take it. We displace and hunt some of their natural predators, coyotes and foxes for example, allowing their populations to flourish. If they were to disappear from the suburban (and urban) landscapes that we have created, I think we would miss them.
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My dad, for example, spent an enormous amount of time trying to design a bird feeding system squirrels couldn’t breach but, at the same time, had names for some of the more memorable squirrels to visit our yard. One, a black morph with a crooked tail (these were common in my neighborhood) named Oscar was sorely missed when he (or maybe she) disappeared one winter.
For myself, my strategy is to put out enough food and feeders to satisfy all my animal visitors and, instead of spending my time trying to thwart gray squirrels, enjoy them instead.
Susan Pike, a researcher and an environmental sciences and biology teacher at Dover High School, welcomes your ideas for future column topics. She may be reached at spike3116@gmail.com. Read more of her Nature News columns online at Seacoastonline.com and pikes-hikes.com, and follow her on Instagram @pikeshikes.