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Grey squirrel

From Tilcayo Cats, the lean encyclopaedia by Tilcayo Knowledge Systems
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The grey squirrel or eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is a tree squirrel native to eastern North America. It has been introduced to Britain and elsewhere, where it has replaced the native red squirrel in many areas.[1][2]

Description

The fur is grizzled pale grey to slate grey above, often cinnamon on the hips, with a white eye ring and a pale belly. Black squirrels are common in northern populations, and white populations are known. Adults measure 200 to 315 mm from head to rump, with a 150 to 250 mm tail, and weigh 300 to 710 g.[1]

Distribution

Its native range runs from Saskatchewan to eastern Texas and east to the Atlantic coast. It has been introduced to Britain, Ireland, Italy and South Africa, while attempts in Australia and Hawaii failed. It lives in hardwood and mixed forests with plenty of nuts and tree holes, and also in towns.[1][3]

Social life

Related females often nest together, and daughters settle near their mothers to form family clusters.[3][4] Koprowski calls it the most social tree squirrel known.[4]

Breeding

Mating peaks from December to February and in May and June.[5] Many males chase each female, up to 34 in one record.[3] Males may use active pursuit or wait as satellites, and satellite males gain many matings when a female breaks away from the chase.[6] Mating lasts less than 30 seconds.[3][7] Litters often have more than one father.[8] Pregnancy lasts 44 days[5] and litters usually have two to four young. Young leave the nest at seven to eight weeks.[3]

Food

Grey squirrels bury nuts and acorns each year and find them again by memory and smell.[5] They cut out the embryo of white-oak acorns to stop them germinating.[9]

In Britain

In Britain the grey squirrel strips bark from trees and displaces the red squirrel.[9] The Mammal Society describes it as an invasive species brought to Britain from America in the early 20th century. It strips bark from thin-barked trees such as beech and sycamore to reach the sap, mostly in early summer.[10] A survey in 1944 found that red squirrels had disappeared where greys had been established for about 20 years.[11] Introduced greys take red squirrels' food stores, digest acorns better and carry a parapoxvirus that kills red squirrels.[12] The Mammal Society also says it outcompetes red squirrels and spreads squirrel pox to them.[10] Whether competition or squirrel pox is the main cause of the red squirrel's decline is debated.[2]

Status

Animal Diversity Web lists the grey squirrel as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.[5] In Britain it has been illegal to keep grey squirrels without a licence since 1937, and illegal to release them into the wild.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Thorington, Richard W. Jr.; Koprowski, John L.; Steele, Michael A.; Whatton, James F. (2012). Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 45. ISBN 9781421408682.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Couzens, Dominic; Swash, Andy; Still, Robert; Dunn, Jon (2021). Britain's Mammals: A Field Guide to the Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland (Updated ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 54. ISBN 9780691224862.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Thorington, Richard W. Jr.; Koprowski, John L.; Steele, Michael A.; Whatton, James F. (2012). Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 46. ISBN 9781421408682.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Koprowski, John L. (2007). "Alternative Reproductive Tactics and Strategies of Tree Squirrels". In Wolff, Jerry O.; Sherman, Paul W. (eds.). Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective. University of Chicago Press. p. 87. ISBN 9780226905365.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Lawniczak, M. (2002). "Sciurus carolinensis". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan.
  6. ↑ Koprowski, John L. (2007). "Alternative Reproductive Tactics and Strategies of Tree Squirrels". In Wolff, Jerry O.; Sherman, Paul W. (eds.). Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective. University of Chicago Press. p. 90. ISBN 9780226905365.
  7. ↑ Koprowski, John L. (2007). "Alternative Reproductive Tactics and Strategies of Tree Squirrels". In Wolff, Jerry O.; Sherman, Paul W. (eds.). Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective. University of Chicago Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780226905365.
  8. ↑ Koprowski, John L. (2007). "Alternative Reproductive Tactics and Strategies of Tree Squirrels". In Wolff, Jerry O.; Sherman, Paul W. (eds.). Rodent Societies: An Ecological and Evolutionary Perspective. University of Chicago Press. p. 88. ISBN 9780226905365.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Thorington, Richard W. Jr.; Koprowski, John L.; Steele, Michael A.; Whatton, James F. (2012). Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 47. ISBN 9781421408682.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Grey squirrel". Mammal Society.
  11. ↑ Yalden, Derek; Barrett, Priscilla (2010). The History of British Mammals. T & AD Poyser. ch. 7. ISBN 9781408128718.
  12. ↑ Thorington, Richard W. Jr.; Koprowski, John L.; Steele, Michael A.; Whatton, James F. (2012). Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 76. ISBN 9781421408682.
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