NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

George E. Pataki, Governor Erin M. Crotty, CommissionerReprinted from The New York State Conservationist, February 2002

Artwork by Jean Gawalt (art not to scale)Text by Gordon Batcheller & Jean Gawalt

Layout design by Frank Herec

Return A Gift To Wildlife Look for it on your NYS Tax Form.

THE

Alarge group, the squirrel family includes treesquirrels (gray, red, fox), flying squirrels,chipmunks, marmots (woodchuck), ante-

lope squirrels, ground squirrels, and prairiedogs. While not all species occur here, New YorkState is home to a number of squirrel specieswhich are readily seen by many people year-round.

Squirrels are distinguished from all otherrodents by their thickly furred bushy tails. Infact, that "banner tail" is so characteristic oftree squirrels that it serves as the basis fornaming these small mammals. The Latin wordSciurus (sk’yooris) means squirrel, and isderived from the Greek skia (shadow) and oura(tail). Anyone who’s seen a squirrel run across astreet or lawn with its tail undulating and wav-ing can appreciate the concept of shadow tail.And typically, a squirrel sits with its tail curledover its back– "in the shadow."

Squirrels come in a wide variety of colors. Infact, as a whole, this group of animals is proneto producing color variants of the more typicalcolor patterns for that species. For example, inNew York, gray squirrels can be black-furred,albino, or many different variations of graymixed with yellow-to-reddish brown. Manysquirrel species have light spots on the back oftheir ears.

All squirrels have chisel-like front teeth,sharp claws and strong legs. Most have clustersof sensitive whiskers on their faces and frontlegs to help navigate climbing trees or tunnelingin the earth. Most species of squirrels are activeduring the daytime. Some ground-dwellingsquirrels will hibernate in the winter.

Highly territorial, squirrels usually expelintruders from their "home turf." That’s why youmay see a red squirrel or even a chipmunkchase off a much larger gray squirrel. Long-livedfor rodents, squirrels average 3-5 years old, butcan live up to 8-10 years in the wild, which isseveral times longer than the usual year or twofor most smaller rodents.

GraySquirrel

When most NewYorkers think of

squirrels, this is thespecies they picture.

Typical of a treesquirrel–sure-footed and having a

"banner-tail"– the gray squirrel iswidespread and abundant, living innearly all areas of the state. A populargame species, it is at home in bothurban and natural areas, some-times even more abundant nearhomes than in woodlands. Thegray squirrel likes large trees,

such as oaks and hickories,that produce both food anddenning sites. A lively andenergetic squirrel, it can climb

very quickly and is capa-ble of jumping long dis-tances from tree to tree,

or limb to limb. Although itprefers to gather food in

trees, once nuts andother seeds drop, thegray squirrel isforced to forage onthe ground where itbecomes more vul-

nerable to predation bycoyotes, foxes, hawks andgreat horned owls. Anadult male gray squirrelweighs about 11/2 pounds.

Fox SquirrelPrimarily a Midwestern species, the fox squir-

rel is at the eastern edge of its range in NewYork, found primarily in the western part of

the state, especially along large rivers (suchas the Genesee) and along the Lake Erie

shoreline. Distinguished from the gray squirrelby its larger size and deep orange-rust color-ing, the fox squirrel lives in trees, but prefersareas that are more open or even "park-like."

The fox squirrel spends much of its time onthe ground. When moving about, it has a slow,

sluggish appearance, not nearly as lively asthe gray squirrel. A fox squirrel’s diet consistsof hard and soft mast, especially acorns, hick-

ories, grapes and cherries. A heavy squirrel,an adult male fox squirrel may weigh as much

as 21/2 pounds.

Red SquirrelThe red squirrel is a small, aggressive squirrel thatprimarily lives in areas with abundant evergreens.It gets its name from the rich rusty colorationalong its back and tail, which is separated from itswhitish belly and chest by a short, black "racingstripe." A red squirrel seems to almost never walk,but rather runs or climbs trees in quick and suddenbursts of energy, sometimes chattering and scold-ing loudly along the way. Larger than a chipmunk,but smaller than a gray squirrel, an adult red squir-rel weighs about one-half of a pound. In areas suchas the Adirondacks, the red squirrel is far moreabundant than the gray.

Flying SquirrelsNew York is home for two

species of flying squirrels: the southern and the northern.Although their ranges overlap, southern flying squirrels live primarily south of the Mohawk

River Valley, while northern flying squirrels are more often found in the northern part ofNew York. Occasionally seen during the day, these largely nocturnal squirrels are most

active at night. The northern flying squirrel is reddish brown in color; the southern flyingsquirrel is a more mouse-like gray color. Somewhat misnamed, flying squirrels do not actu-

ally fly, but rather glide. By extending their feet, they cause the large flaps of skin foundalong the sides of their bodies to stretch tight, forming a wing-like structure. Southern fly-

ing squirrels eat seeds, nuts, berries, lichens, fresh leaves and flowers. Northern speciesfeed more heavily on lichens and fungi. Both species are also somewhat carnivorous. Flyingsquirrels can often be regular visitors to bird-feeders, though primarily at night. Averaging

only about two ounces, they are the smallest of New York's squirrels.

WoodchuckA type of marmot, the woodchuck is New York's largest member ofthe squirrel family, with an adult woodchuck weighing asmuch as 12 pounds, though most average about 7pounds. It has a chunky body, which it keeps lowto the ground. Ranging from dark blonde tobrown, the woodchuck's coat is long andcoarse. Often spotted along roadways, thewoodchuck prefers open lands, such asfarmlands and fields, but also occursnear homes, sometimes doing greatdamage to vegetable and flower gar-dens. The woodchuck lives under-ground in a sometimes extensive net-work of tunnels and burrows. It hiber-nates during the winter. A woodchuckstands up on its hind legs to search itssurroundings, and quickly runs for thenearest hole when alarmed. Though itprefers not to, the woodchuckcan climb, and occasion-ally even gets up intothe low lyinglimbs oftrees.

Eastern ChipmunkThe Eastern chipmunk may be one of New York's mostabundant and easily recognized small mammals. Activeduring the day, it scurries about in an unending searchfor food–nuts, berries, tender flowers, leaves, andseeds, as well as small invertebrates like snails andinsects. Unlike its other squirrel cousins, the chipmunkhas several distinct stripes along its body: five darkstripes and two white or buff stripes. Capable of climb-ing, it prefers to stay on the ground, and often goesunderground. An energetic animal, the chipmunk mightdisappear down one hole, only to reappear secondslater ten feet away. A chipmunk stores food in its largecheek pouches until it can chew and digest it in the rela-tive security of an underground hole. Although not atrue hibernator, the Eastern chipmunk is less active inthe winter, emerging as soon as soil and air tempera-tures begin to warm in the spring. A small squirrel, itweighs about four ounces.