Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
Observation
I captured this picture of the Eastern Gray Squirrel on 25 September 2011 in northwest Philadelphia, PA. I observed the squirrel climbing forward down my neighbor's walnut tree in the driveway. It scurried down the drive way, I believe, in hopes of finding one of a few remaining walnuts on the tree. At first glance, I assumed that it was carrying an acorn. As I watched a little longer, I realized that the squirrel was carrying a walnut in it's mouth. The squirrel was very cautious in my presence. It gave me ample time to take the picture. It was if he was posing for the camera. As I came closer, he became very still and did not move until I turned and walked away.
Questions
Where does the gray squirrel live? What kinds of food do gray squirrels eat? How does a grey squirrel locate the food its buried?
Scientific Research
Jacobs, Luccia. F. and Liman, Emily R. Grey Squirrels Remember the Location of Their Buried Nuts, Animal Behavior, Vol. 41, No. 1 (Mar.1990) pp
The eastern gray squirrel, one of the largest in North America, weighs 500-520 g. Its natural habitat are deciduous woodlands that are rich with tree nuts such as beech or oak trees. Even so, gray squirrels have adapted well to urban settings. They often live in trees where they can build nests or dreys. Dreys are constructed mostly with dry leaves and twigs.
Though the gray squirrel is an omnivore, they prefer a diet of seeds, acorns walnut, other kinds of nuts, tree bark, berries and some types of fungi.The eastern gray squirrel is a scatter-hoarder. It hides food in many caches that will be retrieved later. Gray Squirrels have a very accurate spacial memory that gives them the ability to find their numerous caches of buried food. They use landmarks to return to the area where food was hidden. Once there, the squirrel uses its great sense of smell to pinpoint the location of the buried food.
Further Information
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