Gray squirrel

Spruce cones left by red squirrels Gray squirrel middens Hole in a tree fisher den ... 

Gray squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis hair Florida 1974 ... 

Jenkins, J.H., A.H. Davis, W.J. Bigler, and G.L. Hoff. 1980. Mercury and cesium-137 in urban gray squirrels. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 25 321-324. 

Even if there are already many suitable nest sites, a bird box may encourage a normally shy species of bird to stay in your yard. Bird boxes can be made of untreated wood or "woodcrete" (a concrete/sawdust composition). The latter version is useful if your garden has predatory squirrels or even woodpeckers with a taste for young birds. All bird boxes should be positioned so that you can access them easily to clean them out in fall, which is important. Put your bird box on a sheltered wall or tree trunk, well away from predators, rain, and direct sunlight. Cats can climb up and reach into boxes from all sorts of unlikely angles, as can gray squirrels, so position the box carefully. 

Fruit and seeds make up the largest part of the diet of most of the common small mammals on our study sites, particularly the deer mouse, harvest mouse, chipmunk, ground squirrel, and western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus anthonyi). The gray squirrel is an excellent example of the interactions within this forest and of the potential effects of oxidant air pollution. It is abundant throughout the mixed-conifer type, depend-... 

Thus, tree squirrels are a major source of loss of seeds of ponderosa, Jeffrey, and sugar pine and of black oak acorns. Vertebrates, then, can have a major effect on the reproduction of these species, particularly because the gray squirrel is only one of numerous species in this forest that feed on coiner seeds and acorns. 

Gray squirrel, Sclurus carollnensls] kidney Urban area Rural... 

We will examine whether a diurnal rodent, the gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) avoids predator odors and whether this avoidance is specific to certain predator species that pose more of a threat than others. This experiment arose from our course Chemical Ecology of Vertebrates during the autumn of 2000. Surprisingly, we could not find published studies of predator odor effects on squirrels. Dr. Frank Resell, then a student in the course, undertook this experiment as his individual research project and extended it after the end of the course for a publication (Rosell 2001). 

The food bait, combined with the predator odor, is placed in an area frequented by squirrels such as a park, cemetery, campground, picnic area, or front or backyard of a school or private residence. The food can be placed next to the scent, or treated directly with it. In the author s experience, gray squirrels visit a feeding station more in the morning than afternoon. Find an area where squirrels are active. Place food near trees from which the animals can descend and retreat to in case of alarm. Prebait the squirrels with food to be used in the experiment. In our study, we will use acoms of red oak. 

Data Sheet 5.1 Feeding responses of gray squirrels to red oak acorns... 

As a variation of the experiment described above, one of our course participants chose to present free-ranging gray squirrels with urine of red fox, raccoon (Procyon lotor), humans, and - as control - white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus) (Resell 2001). 

Resell F (2001) Effectiveness of predator odors as gray squirrel repellents. Can J Zool 79 1719-1723... 

Remains of acorns of red oak, Quercus rubra, after gray squirrels, Sciurus carolinensis) have been feeding on them. Top row. cross section of acorn, with radicle barely visible at apical pole at the bottom. Middle row. Parts of acorns left behind by squirrels. They discard apical pole (with radicle visible). Such pieces are later consumed by birds such as blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata). Bottom row. pieces of acorn shells. Photo D. MiiUer-Schwarze... 

Tannin levels vary within an acorn. They are more concentrated in the apical (pointed) portion with the embryo. Accordingly, gray squirrels, and also grackles and jays, selectively consume more often the basal part of an acorn than the distal part (Steele et al. 1993). The embryo will still germinate after being left over by a squirrel. The chemical gradient in the acorn may represent an adaptation that results in a compromise animals consume only the part of the acom that contains the least tannin, but the better protected seedling and parts around it will still survive the predation. 

Main experiment Provide equal numbers of conditioned and control acorns to free-ranging, but prebaited gray squirrels. You will be provided with 60 acorns of each of the two types. Run three replications of 20 treated and 20 control acorns each. Observe for 20 min after placing the 20 plus 20 acorns ... 

Fox JF (1982) Adaptation of gray squirrel behavior to autumn germination by white oak acorns. Evolution 36 800-809... 

Birds and squirrels at capsaicin-treated food. Top Bluejay (Cyanocitta cristata) feeds on capsaicin-treated birdseed, while gray squirrel (Sciurus cadrolinensis) simultansously feeds on untreated birdseed. Bottom Simultaneously, bluejay feeds on birdseed treated with capsaicin (a mammal repellent), and a gray squirrel feeds on birdseed treated with methyl anthrandate, a bird repellent... 

Reasons for proliferation of poisonons weeds in livestock pastures Effect of tannin and tea gronnds on feeding by gray squirrels Gnstatory responses of lake stnrgeon (Acipenserfulvescens) imeaiXt , to extracts of natnral prey and amino acids... 

The common squirrel monkey is the species often kept as a pet. Its thick, short fur is gray, the chest is white, its legs are yellow, and it has white circles around its eyes, giving it a widow s peak above the nose. A large dark oval of bare skin encircles the nose and mouth on the muzzle. 

---