Sciurus carolinensis

Posted by Le Photalgraphiste (London, United Kingdom) on 24 June 2008 in Animal & Insect and Portfolio.

Grey squirrels are an alien species and were introduced to the UK from the USA in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century. Their success has been to the detriment of our native red squirrels.

(This one looks reddish to me, traitor!)

Statistics
Head and body length: 23-30 cm, Tail length: 19-25cm, Weight (adult): 400-600g.

Physical Description
Grey squirrels are distinguished from red squirrels by their grey fur, smaller ear tufts and their larger, more robust build. Grey squirrels sit with their large bushy tail arched over the back.

(Wish I could do the same.)

Diet
Grey squirrels feed on acorns, tree shoots, flowers, nuts, fruits, roots and cereals. They bury surplus food 2-5cm below the soil or in tree hollows. They feed at ground level, more so than red squirrels, and together with their ability to digest acorns, (which reds can't), they have tended to displace red squirrels in areas of woodland where the two have come into contact. (And mixed, hence the reddish fur. Aha!)

DUH! This does not mention the Grey Squirrel's manner of eating. As you can see, the little fellow is clearly civilised. He may even be using a fork and a knife by now. Or chopsticks.

Editing : I know I cut the tail, composition problem - took the pic in a hurry. Cropped a bit to bring it back to the centre, and ajusted contrast and colours a tiny teeny little bit too. No animal was hurt during the shooting of this photograph.

[ A F T E R W O R D ]

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