Scurrying Squirrels

Eastern gray squirrel (photo by Marcy Cunkelman)
Eastern gray squirrel (photo by Marcy Cunkelman)

As cold weather approaches squirrels in the genus Sciurus — the tree squirrels — are scurrying to store food for the winter.  Here are two Sciurus you’ll see in Pittsburgh.

The eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is fond of nuts, especially those in bird feeders.  In autumn he turns from brown to gray so he’ll continue to blend in with the landscape.  He also comes in black.

Yes, black squirrels are really eastern gray squirrels. The black ones stay black all winter.

Black gray squirrel in Schenley Park (photo by Kate St. John)
A black “eastern gray squirrel” in Schenley Park (photo by Kate St. John)

 

The fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) is larger than the gray squirrel.  Though his scientific name means “black” he sports a foxy colored coat all year long, especially on his belly.

Fox squirrel with partially open black walnut (photo by Donna Foyle)
Fox squirrel with partially open black walnut (photo by Donna Foyle)

 

Barely larger than chipmunks, the red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) are busy too. Cute but not true Sciurus, they’re Tamiasciurus.

Red Squirrel (photo by Chuck Tague)
Red Squirrel (photo by Chuck Tague)

 

NOT found in Pittsburgh I had to include this fancy squirrel, a Sciurus with big ear tufts that lives in the mountains of Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.  Sciurus aberti, Abert’s squirrel.

Abert's squirrel (photo by Tom Benson, Creative Commons license on Flickr)
Abert’s squirrel (photo by Tom Benson, Creative Commons license on Flickr)

 

(photo credits: eastern gray squirrel in gray by Marcy Cunkelman, eastern gray squirrel in black by Kate St. John, red squirrel by Chuck Tague, Abert’s squirrel by Tom Benson, Creative Commons license on Flickr)

3 thoughts on “Scurrying Squirrels

  1. The 3 species of squirrels are in competition on my property. Years ago I had gray squirrels. Then fox squirrels appeared The grays became less and less numerous, and now I haven’t seen one for several years. They are still “around”. I see grays running across the road a few miles away.

    American red squirrels are something else. They used to inhabit evergreen forests, but they have moved into my mostly-deciduous property where they compete successfully with even the much larger fox squirrels. I never see very many. They are fiercely territorial and this area is All Mine. They moved in to my shed and they’re so cute I let them stay. One spring I had four babies who came out to see what was going on every time I went into the shed.

    They are very arboreal. The other squirrels run across the lawn to reach the bird feeders. The reds leap from tree to tree to tree and spend as little time on the ground as possible.

  2. I watched and photographed these long eared critters on my visit to Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff AZ in 2004. There were lots of them around and my wife and daughter (who lives in FLG) saw them often. We even observed them in my daughters back yard. Very different from what we see back east.

  3. Think I actually saw a black squirrel the other day, though I didn’t get a good look at it so I’m not positive.

    There was a squirrel (not sure what kind, but I always remember him as being brown) that lived in a tree in front of a house 2 up from the one I grew up in. He had gotten the name Hungryjack and he was really tame and would come sit on peoples porches waiting for them to come out and give him peanuts. I even have a picture of him taking a peanut right out of my dad’s hand.

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