Eastern Gray Squirrel
|
|
A thriving tree squirrel, very common in Tennessee, the Eastern Gray Squirrel is predominantly gray, but it can have a reddish tint, a white belly and a large bushy tail. The large bushy tail of the gray squirrel has many uses; including balance, a blanket, an umbrella, parachute, and communication. Like other members of the Sciuridae family, this squirrel is a scatter-hoarder, hoarding its food in many small caches for recovery later. It has been estimated that a single squirrel will make several thousand caches each year. Some of these caches are retrieved for re-burial in a more secure site. Others caches are not retrieved until much later and some are never retrieved, possibly germinating. Squirrels have incredibly accurate memories of the cache locations and use landmarks to retrieve them. At the end of the summer, gray squirrels will start storing seeds and nuts to feed on when food is scarce in the winter months. The Eastern Gray Squirrel is very vocal and can be heard chattering away if an intruder approaches. The nest or "drey" of an Eastern Gray Squirrel is constructed with dry leaves and twigs in the forks of trees. Known predators of this squirrel include hawks, owls, raccoons, skunks, dogs, foxes & coyotes. On occasion, during the fall, large numbers of gray squirrels will move to new places to live. This behavior is known as emigration, and occurs when squirrel numbers are high and food is scarce. When mature forests covered most of eastern North America, this mass movement of squirrels was probably quite spectacular.
|
