The Sciurus carolinensis, commonly known as the Eastern Gray Squirrel is a very fast, agile, and sneaky creature.  It is very unique in many ways and has attributes that help it escape from danger.

 

The Eastern Gray Squirrel is of gray color.  The shade of gray that help it blend in with its surroundings.  Their head to their body measures about twenty-three centimeters to thirty centimeters in length.  Their tail is about nineteen to twenty-five centimeters.  They are very small which enables them to move at very quick speeds.  They are extremely sneaky and agile.  They can escape quickly without the enemy even knowing they had already gotten away.  The Eastern Gray Squirrel’s fur is thicker in winter so they can stay warm and maintain a steady temperature.

 

They live in parts of the United States, but mostly in Eastern Canada.  They live in very dense forests which are in Canada.  They construct their homes on large trees with holes in them.  They line the trunk of the tree with moss, dried grass, and feathers.  This helps with heating and keeps the squirrel warm.  The Eastern Gray Squirrel can also be found in parks, backyards, neighborhoods, and farmlands with a lot of trees near the area.

 

Their species are threatened.  They only number from fifteen-thousand to twenty-thousand.  Their population is decreasing rapidly due to lumberjacks cutting the trees down for paper, furniture, and tables.  These lumberjacks know they are endangering a magnificent and cute creature, but they have to make a living.  The squirrels have no where to go and no place to sleep.  So they often die due to lack of warmth, food supply, and enemies.

 

The diet of an Eastern Gray Squirrel consists of a variety of things.  They eat bark from trees.  This gives them some of the nutrients they need.  They also consume walnuts and sunflower seeds.  They eat those because there is a great surplus of them and they are easily accessible.  They will also invade people’s bird feeders for the millet which fill it.  In some rare occasions they will even eat small frogs and insects.

 

There are many predators of the Eastern Gray Squirrel.  The Great Horned Owl and the Barred Owl wait for the squirrel to be off guard and then goes in for the attack.  Some other enemies are the Red Fox, Raccoon, and the Black Rat Snake.  The Red Fox is also a very sneaky animal.  It is able to catch the squirrel easily but unlike the Red Fox, the Raccoon eats its prey on the spot.  On the other hand, the Black Rat Snake finds the squirrel, kills it, and engulfs its prey whole.

 

Some interesting facts about the Eastern Gray Squirrel help them survive in the dangerous world they inhabit.  One interesting fact is that they can lose their tail sheath and some bones to escape the grip of a predator.  It can save their life and also grow back eventually over a long period of time.  This attribute makes them able to escape death.  Also, they can reach and maintain speeds of twenty-five kilometers per hour.  That is very fast!  Considering they are only about forty centimeters long, running about twelve miles an hour can really help them escape enemies. 

 

As you can see, the Eastern Gray Squirrel is a very fast, sneaky, and agile animal.  They can escape a predator’s grip and able to run twelve miles per hour.  They have a good diet with a surplus of walnuts and sunflower seeds.  They are able to survive enemies in their environment and a very great animal to live here.  Now you know as much as I do about the Eastern Gray Squirrel.

 

Author: Bill W.

Published: 2/2011

 

Sources:

Banfield, A.W.F. 1974. The mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Toronto.

MacClintock, D. 1970. Squirrels of North America. A California Academy of Sciences Book. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.

Seton, Ernest Thompson. 1928. Lives of game animals: Gray squirrel. Volume 4.

Doubleday, Doran and Co., Inc., Garden City, New York.

Woods, S.E., 1980. Squirrels of Canada. National Museum of Natural Sciences, Ottawa.

 

Photo By: Tim Knight taken in 1996