The Gray Squirrel

By Al Lowe
Contributor

This animal is essentially an eastern North American species. It breeds in some of the most southern parts of Canada, including some portions of Northwestern Ontario. The Gray Squirrel is the aerial artist of the woods - the high altitude performer. leaps of 15 feet, sudden descents of 30 or 40 feet - all part of his repertoire.
For those of you who have seen the common black squirrels in many eastern cities, these are th same species. Black squirrels are really Gray Squirrels. That sounds like an Irish statement, but it just means that there are two colour phases. Both black and gray types are very common in many towns, where they exist very well by panhandling peanuts and breadcrusts in the parks. In the woods, though, the Gray Squirrel is a shy, quick and difficult-to-see animal. This is one of the squirrels which made the kentucky woodsmen such good marksmen. If you could get enough squirrels for dinner, you could probably hit anything you wanted to.
Away back in the early days of this continent, the eastern half of North America was covered with vast forests of beech, oak, chestnut, maple and so on. The huge areas of nut-bearing trees supported immense populations of many birds and animals. One of the species which flourished was the Gray Squirrel. They seemed to multiply into millions and then migrate through the woods - sometimes hundreds of miles. Needless to say, settlers trying to carve farms out of the wilderness were horrified to see this plague of squirrels descend on them. However, clearing of the land for agriculture and the total collapse of the Chestnut forest put an end to this buildup of squirrels for ever.
In the mid-1800’s the Gray Squirrel was imported into England. They changed their habits, eating bark, killing young trees and generally being a huge pest. In some parts of Britain, our friendly and nice-looking squirrel is call the ‘tree rat’.
Many people in Northern Ontario have never seen the Gray Squirrel at all, and are surprised that they even exist. They are actually quite plentiful in some parts, and seem to be extending their range to some extent.
The Gray Squirrel, Sciurius carolinensis, is one of the nicest looking of the squirrel family. The long and very full tail and the nearly solid black or gray colour are the distinguishing features, although the gray phase often has some brown shadings. It has been introduced into many western cities for ornamental purposes in parks and wooded areas. It is much to be hoped that its numbers will continue to increase in the North.