Eastern Grey Squirrel Sciurus carolinensis Live to 12. 5 years in the wild Iden;fica;on •  The eastern grey squirrel common comes in black, grey, and rarely reddish colored fur. •  Dis;nc;ve large bushy tail. •  It is a medium sized squirrel with no size difference between males and females •  Weigh .5-­‐1.5 lbs •  5.9-­‐9.8 inches long Range Na;ve to the eastern half of North America and recently introduced to the northwester sec;on of the United States Habitat •  The eastern grey squirrel lives in the upper branches of trees in dense forests. They live here because of the food and shelter provided by the dense vegeta;on. •  They commonly live in forests consis;ng of oak and hickory trees Diet •  The grey squirrel is an opportunist when it comes to food but it typically eats buds of trees, seeds, nuts, insects, eggs and apples. •  The grey squirrel hoards hundreds of nuts over the coarse of the year for use in winter. They reclaim these stashes using smell and their excellent spa;al memory. Ma;ng •  There are two breeding seasons each year: Winter and Summer. •  Courtship begins when a female con;nuously calls down from a tree top with quack-­‐like calls •  Males then fight to determine who is dominant and then chase the female in the tree tops. Nest •  Eastern grey squirrels may build a drey, adopt an abandoned bird nest, or live in a hollow of a tree •  A drey is a type of nest build in the fork of a tree •  A grey squirrel’s nest is lined with dry leaves and moss The Young •  The gesta;on period of squirrels is about 44 days. •  The young are weaned at 7 weeks and leave the nest aYer 10 weeks. •  The young reach maturity at 5 and a half months Predators •  Grey squirrels must be on the lookout for their many predators •  These include humans, hawks, skunks, raccoons, cats, snakes, predatory birds, dogs, and weasels. Defense Mechanisms •  They can shed the fur on their tail and some tail bones to escape a predator if necessary •  When in danger while climbing, they move around the trunk of the tree keeping out of sight of predators. •  They may also remain mo;onless and use their grey fur as camouflage Voice •  Eastern grey squirrels use vocaliza;ons as varied as a squeak, cha^er, and rasp. •  A frequent sound of the grey squirrel is it’s alarm call which is a series of rapid clicking sounds. •  Rasping calls and tooth cha^ering are the most common communica;ons between two aggressive squirrels •  Their tail can act a signal to other squirrels indica;ng mood. Interes;ng Facts •  The grey squirrel can run 15.5 miles an hour •  The tail acts a rudder when the animal jumps from high places and as a warm covering in winter and a distrac;on to predators •  A dominance hierarchy is maintained by bluffing show of force or chasing rather than figh;ng •  Eastern grey squirrels do not hibernate. To learn more about CREA please visit www.creamaine.org Work Cited •  h^p://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=89 •  h^p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Eastern_gray_squirrel#Habitat •  h^p://blogshevik.com/squirreltale/?page_id=30 •  h^p://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=89 •  h^p://www.beloblog.com/ProJo_Blogs/
shenews/08/squirrel.jpg •  h^p://kidoinfo.com/ri/wp-­‐content/uploads/
2009/12/squirrel-­‐dreys-­‐web.jpg •  h^p://www.snowmancam.com/images/
grey_squirrel.jpg •  h^p://
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eastern_grey_squirrel_in_st_jamess_park_lon
don_-­‐_nov_2006_edit.jpg •  h^p://www.harmonywildlife.org/images/
galsquirrels07.jpg •  h^p://www.gatesheadbirders.co.uk/Design/
Assets/images/Red-­‐kite-­‐and-­‐sq-­‐FP-­‐DRG.gif •  h^p://www.beaconhillparkhistory.org/
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