On the Run
by J McCombie
Title
On the Run
Artist
J McCombie
Medium
Photograph - Untouched
Description
This male Eastern Grey Squirrel has been feeding from the bird seed mix that has fallen from the feeders hanging in the apple tree.
Sciurus carolinensis is native to the eastern and midwestern United States, and to the southerly portions of the eastern provinces of Canada. The native range of the eastern gray squirrel overlaps with that of the fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), with which it is sometimes confused, although the core of the fox squirrel's range is slightly more to the west. The eastern gray squirrel is found from New Brunswick to Manitoba, south to East Texas and Florida. Breeding eastern gray squirrels are found in Nova Scotia, but whether this population was introduced or came from natural range expansion is not known. It has also been introduced into Ireland, Britain, Italy, South Africa, and Australia (where it was extirpated by 1973). Eastern grey squirrels in Europe are a concern because they have displaced some of the native squirrels there.
As the name suggests, the eastern gray squirrel has predominantly gray fur, but it can have a brownish color. It has a usual white underside as compared to the typical brownish-orange underside of the fox squirrel. It has a large bushy tail. The squirrels fur is thicker and longer in winter. The fur colour is grey or black and may change with the seasons. The grey fur is a grizzled salt-and-pepper combination produced by lead-grey underfur, overlain by banded grey and black guard hairs tipped with white. Black individuals are generally a glossy uniform black all over, but the species may show all shades of gradation between black and grey. A litter may contain both black and grey individuals.
The most notable physical feature of the eastern grey squirrel is its large bushy tail. Indeed, the Latin word for squirrel, sciurus, is derived from two Greek words, skia, meaning shadow, and oura, meaning tail. Combining the two means loosely that the squirrel is one that sits in the shadow of its own tail. Many of the common names given to the eastern grey squirrel, such as Bannertail and Silvertail, call attention to this prominent feature. The tail has many important functions. It acts as a rudder when the animal jumps from high places, as a warm covering during the winter, as a signal to other eastern grey squirrels indicating an individuals mood, and perhaps as a sunshade. Finally, the tail can be used to distract a pursuing predator. The specific epithet, carolinensis, refers to the Carolinas, where the species was first recorded and where the animal is still extremely common. In the United Kingdom and Canada, it is simply referred to as the "grey squirrel".
The melanistic form, which is almost entirely black, is predominant in certain populations and in certain geographic areas, such as in large parts of southeastern Canada. Genetic variations within these include individuals with black tails and black-colored squirrels with white tails. The head and body length is from 23 to 30 cm (9.1 to 11.8 in), the tail from 19 to 25 cm (7.5 to 9.8 in), and the adult weight varies between 400 and 600 g (14 and 21 oz).
There are typical signs that eastern grey squirrels inhabit an area. The gnawed husks and shells of nuts, especially acorns, hickory nuts, walnuts, beechnuts, and pecans, can be found littering the ground around the base of a tree where the squirrels have been feeding. In winter small holes in the snow or ground indicate where squirrels have been digging to find hidden stores of nuts buried earlier in the year.
The eastern grey squirrels alarm call is a series of rapid clicking soundskuk, kuk, kukwhich warns all other nearby squirrels of danger. Sometimes several squirrels join together to taunt a predator with a chorus of scolding accompanied by agitated twitches of the tail. In an aggressive encounter between two squirrels, tooth chattering is often heard. A more commonly heard vocalization is a rasping whisk accentuated by a flick of the tail.
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October 27th, 2016
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