Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Eastern Gray Squirrel

There were two or three Eastern Grey Squirrels, one of them this black form, hanging around the same small area in Fish Creek Park (eastern end) on 23 November 2014. I had called in at the park to see if there was any sight of the Long-tailed Weasel. “The Eastern Grey Squirrels come in two main colour varieties or morphs, black and grey, and there are a few with shades of reds or even yellows in their pelage. A new-born litter may contain individuals of all colours. In the east, due to predatory pressure, grey individuals have a better chance of avoiding detection in grey-barked trees while black ones survive best when in stands of black-barked Black Oak or Black Walnut trees. In Calgary, litters seem to be evenly divided between grey and black. In winter, black individuals appear to be more numerous, particularly during cold days; perhaps their black fur absorbs more radiant heat, allowing them to be more active than their grey brothers or sisters.”From talkaboutwildlife.ca. “Like many members of the family Sciuridae, the eastern gray squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it hoards food in numerous small caches for later recovery. Some caches are quite temporary, especially those made near the site of a sudden abundance of food which can be retrieved within hours or days for reburial in a more secure site. Others are more permanent and are not retrieved until months later. Each squirrel is estimated to make several thousand caches each season. The squirrels have very accurate spatial memory for the locations of these caches, and use distant and nearby landmarks to retrieve them. Smell is used once the squirrel is within a few inches of the cache.” From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_gray_squirrel

It felt a little strange to see this Eastern Grey Squirrel sitting on the log that I’ve photographed the Long-tailed Weasel standing in. Can’t remember if there were two or three Eastern Greys in the same area a few days ago, on 23 November 2014, one of them a black form. The Squirrel in this photo had such a beautiful, bushy tail. “The Eastern Grey Squirrels come in two main colour varieties or morphs, black and grey, and there are a few with shades of reds or even yellows in their pelage. A new-born litter may contain individuals of all colours. In the east, due to predatory pressure, grey individuals have a better chance of avoiding detection in grey-barked trees while black ones survive best when in stands of black-barked Black Oak or Black Walnut trees. In Calgary, litters seem to be evenly divided between grey and black. In winter, black individuals appear to be more numerous, particularly during cold days; perhaps their black fur absorbs more radiant heat, allowing them to be more active than their grey brothers or sisters.”From talkaboutwildlife.ca. “Like many members of the family Sciuridae, the eastern gray squirrel is a scatter-hoarder; it hoards food in numerous small caches for later recovery. Some caches are quite temporary, especially those made near the site of a sudden abundance of food which can be retrieved within hours or days for reburial in a more secure site. Others are more permanent and are not retrieved until months later. Each squirrel is estimated to make several thousand caches each season. The squirrels have very accurate spatial memory for the locations of these caches, and use distant and nearby landmarks to retrieve them. Smell is used once the squirrel is within a few inches of the cache.” From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_gray_squirrel

The quality of this photo is really bad, but I did want to post it, as I don't remember ever seeing a Two-toned Eastern Grey Squirrel before. There were lots of black Eastern Greys together, running around a wooded park area in the residential area of High River, but this one stood out because of its mixed colours. A few of us were standing there, hoping for the appearance of a wonderful, rare visitor to Alberta - a Red-bellied Woodpecker. Though quite a few people have been lucky enough to be there at the right time, some of us were out of luck that day, when we were doing the High River Christmas Bird Count. I have marked the town of High River on my map, but not the exact location of the park. I read that some people call them “Copper Tails” and others call them “Brown Backs.” Haven't yet been able to find out for sure what causes this colouration.