[PHOTO] Squirrels, squirrels!
Dec. 8th, 2009 07:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonald
The Eastern Grey Squirrel is an interesting species indeed, as shown by the take of Hinterland's Who's Who.
Eastern grey squirrels Sciurus carolinensis commonly occur in two colour phases, grey and black, which leads people to think—mistakenly—that there are two different species. Black is often the dominant colour in Ontario and Quebec, toward the northern limits of the species’ range. Farther south the black phase is less common and is not found at all in the southern United States. This may indicate that the gene responsible for black coloration has some cold-weather adaptation associated with it.
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The eastern grey squirrel spends most of its life in trees, where it moves about with great agility. When it comes to the ground to feed or store food in hiding places to eat later, it also has great mobility and can reach speeds of up to 25 km per hour. In climbing or descending a tree trunk it moves head first, and when danger threatens it sidles inconspicuously around the trunk of the tree, keeping just out of sight of the predator. Another protective device is to remain motionless against the bark, which makes the animal difficult to see.
This species is mostly active during daylight, although it can sometimes be seen feeding by the light of a full moon. In summer, activity is greatest early in the morning and in mid-afternoon. Eastern grey squirrels do not hibernate and in winter are most active around midday, perhaps to take advantage of the warmest temperatures.
The eastern grey squirrel is a tolerant species and exhibits little aggressive behaviour. The dominance hierarchy in both females and males is maintained by a bluffing show of force or chasing rather than by actual fighting. Each animal has a home range where it does most of its foraging for food, makes its nest, and rears its young. The home ranges of males are larger than those of females. There is little territorial behaviour and many home ranges may overlap. Individual squirrels are often seen feeding close to each other without any aggressive activity, and in winter several animals may share the same tree den.
Another squirrel photo post I made back in May refers to Rhonda Riche's 2007 Torontoist essaydescribing squirrels' importance to Toronto and Torontonians.
[T]he squirrel, in its ubiquity, has become a symbol of our city. On any given day, you can find tourists snapping shots of the black ones because they are unknown overseas. Squirrels are so cool that Brampton has replaced its former mascot, "Millie the Millennium Techno Bug," with Sassy the Sesqui Squirrel. When Brampton is biting you, you know you're onto something good.
I've another photo of a St. Michael' squirrel here.
