Grey Squirrels

The grey squirrels are known by the scientific name Sciurus carolinensis, the carolinensis being chosen as these squirrels were first recorded in Carolinas and are still very common there. These are tree squirrels that are native to the eastern and Midwestern parts of the United States are also found in the south eastern parts of Canada. The grey squirrels are very adaptable in nature and have been introduced in several regions in the western United States where is thrives very well.

As it is very apparent from the name, the fur of the grey squirrel is predominantly grey in color with an occasional red tinge. There are some genetic variations including grey squirrels with black tails and black colored squirrels with white tails. The belly is white in color and the squirrel has a large bushy tail. Some squirrels have been known to live for ten years but the average life span of a grey squirrel in the wild is only about 3 to 4 years. The squirrels weigh about 1 pound and are 15 centimeters in length half of which is the length of the tail.

The grey squirrels build a nest known as the drey in the fork of a tree using dry leaves and twigs. Sometimes, the nest is also built in the attic or in the exterior walls of the house. These squirrels do not hibernate as they cannot store enough energy to survive for long periods of time without food. As such the dreys are usually made thicker and bigger during the winter and comes out occasionally in search of food. During the winter the squirrels share dreys for warmth. When the squirrel sleeps, it wraps it tail around it which serves as a blanket.

The grey squirrels communicate mainly through their tails using them as a signaling device although they have a large variety of calls. The squirrels twitch their tail when they are suspicious or uneasy.

The courting season begins in late winter and the squirrels that start breeding are about a year old. The grey squirrels reproduce twice a year with 2 to 4 young ones each time but in some rare cases, up to 9 litters have been born. The gestation period is six months. The first set of litter is born in January or February and the second set of litter is born in during midsummer. The young squirrels mature quite slowly and are on their own in about three months of time. The male squirrels play no role in rearing up the young squirrels.

Grey Squirrels – Diet

The diet of the grey squirrels predominantly includes nuts, acorns, seeds and berries. They occasionally feed on vegetations especially during the spring. Sometimes, the grey squirrels also eat bird eggs, nestling birds and small insects. The squirrels are diurnal and are most active during the dawn and dusk searching for any type of available food.

The grey squirrels are scatter hoarder by nature that is they store food in small quantities for later recovery. Some caches are very temporary in nature and are usually made near the site of abundance food. The food is retrieved from these temporary caches within a few hours or a couple of days and stored in a more permanent cache. The food stored in the permanent cache is usually not recovered for months. It has been estimated that the grey squirrels make several thousand caches in a single season. The squirrels use spatial memory to remember the locations of the caches and use nearby landmarks to retrieve the caches. The sense of smell is used once the squirrel is a few centimeter away from the cache.

The grey squirrels are gnawing animals and have well developed jaw muscles along with chisel shaped front teeth that can chew just about anything. These teeth are kept sharp by gnawing on hard objects like woody plant materials, seeds and nuts. One of the problems that almost all families of squirrels face is that their front teeth grow constantly and hence have to be filed down regularly else the teeth will grow to a point where the squirrel will be unable to eat and will starve to death. Gnawing helps file the teeth.