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Squirrel Nest-camA tragic outcome. Babies had been detected in the nest due to the sounds they made when the mother came to nurse them. Due to the cold weather, the mother was rarely seen because of all the leaves and shredded bark in the nest. When the baby sounds stopped, we believed that the mother may have moved the babies from the nest as often happens with squirrels. After a week of inactivity the mother was seen back in the nest, but something was wrong. She was behaving strangely and seemed to be straining. We wondered if this was another squirrel about to have babies. After some hours of straining, she fell still and we could not longer detect breathing. Finally we went to investigate and found that the mother squirrel had died and we found four lifeless babies deep down in the nest. We then surmised that something had interfered with the mother returning to the nest to care for the babies. That something had fatally injured her or made her sick. With her last dying breath she had found the strength to return to her babies but it was too late for them and for her. We removed the mother and babies to be buried together. That night as I was working late, I heard something rattling the nest box. I then saw a black nose stick into the entrance way followed by a hairy brown hand. A racoon had climbed the tree and was looking for the squirrel nest. Then it became clear what had happened. The mother had probably fought the racoon and may have been bitten or injured in the fall from the tree. The babies, safely deep in the nest and out of reach of the racoon had probably perished that cold night without the mother's warmth. Such is the way things do happen in nature, but in future we plan to racoon proof the nest box even though it is 15 feet up in a tree. We will keep the nest box operational in case something else decides to move in.
Eastern Gray Squirrel - Sciurus carolinensisThe squirrel nest webcam is designed to give a close-up view of the inside of a squirrel nest where a mother squirrel is raising its babies. This nest is located in a kestrel box mounted some 20 feet up in a silver maple tree in a suburban back yard. The camera is mounted inside a piece of PVC tubing that is fitted into the roof of the Kestrel Box. An array of holes covered with squares of frosted plastic supply diffuse lighting to the interior of the nest. Nearby are a number of mature trees that produce an array of seeds, nuts, acorns, pinecones, and buds that provide food attractive to squirrels. Nearby birdfeeders supply an added attraction. The squirrelcam is live or recorded depending on the season.
Interesting Facts about Grey Squirrels
Interesting Facts about Grey SquirrelsIt is commonly held that rodents are dirty animals that reproduce at a tremendous pace with little parental care. The squirrelcam shows just the opposite is true of gray squirrels. Young squirrels develop relatively slowly for rodents and receive a great deal of care from the mother. The squirrel nest remains surprisingly clean as the mother changes bedding material and appears to drink and eat the babies´ excretions at times. The young are groomed repeatedly and nursing is a relaxed affair with the mother often lying on her back for up to an hour to give access to her nipples. The bedding of dry grass is pulled over the young when the mother leaves to feed. The gray squirrel was abundant in colonial times since the expanse of mature forest had not yet been cleared. The now almost extinct American chestnut tree was likely an important food source for the abundant squirrel population. Early marksmen sought the squirrel as an important source of meat. (Deer in colonial times were less abundant than they are now). Thus the squirrel is credited with improving the colonist’s marksmanship and helping to design the guns that would later defeat the British in the revolutionary war. In parts of rural America and particularly the South, the squirrel is still actively hunted for wild game meat. The gray squirrel is an important factor in reforestation of desirable tree species. It is common practice for gray squirrels to make caches of nuts and other food item. When food is abundant the squirrel will scamper around pouching as many nuts and seeds in its cheek pouches as possible. It will then hide these edibles in holes dug in the ground or in hollows in trees or simply by poking them in crevasses in tree bark. Thus the squirrel aids in the distribution of valuable nut, pine, and oak trees when these seeds, acorns, and nuts germinate if the squirrel loses track of its stash. Squirrels apparently use a combination of memory and their sense of smell to relocate their hidden larders. A squirrel’s larder can be quite impressive. In the case of these suburban squirrels, a neat stash of well over a bushel of black walnuts was found in a storage space in a nearby garage. The eastern gray squirrel has been introduced in other parts of the world with mixed results. In Britain, the gray squirrel is considered a pest only slightly less objectionable than the Norway Rat. Gray squirrels in Britain have taken to damaging forest plantations by girdling bark on trees. This together with pushing out the native British red squirrels (not the same as our red squirrels) and causing the usual property damage has made the gray squirrel an unwelcome immigrant. They were first introduced to Britain in 1902. The eastern gray squirrel is also established as introduced populations in South Africa, Ireland, Italy, and parts of Western Canada. The most prominent feature of the gray squirrel is its bushy tail. I fact, the Latin name of the squirrel sciurus is derived from Greek words meaning shadow and tail. Thus it could be said that the name can be roughly translated as one that sits in the shadow of its tail.
DescriptionThe gray squirrel is the largest of the four common species of tree squirrel found in New York which include the gray squirrel, the red squirrel, the northern flying squirrel and the southern flying squirrel. (It is possible that the larger eastern fox squirrel may be found in a small part of Southwestern New York.) The adult gray squirrel weighs between one and one and a half pounds. Typically the head and body are 8 to 10 inches long and the bushy tail is 7 ¾ - 10 inches long. The most common color is gray although a grizzled appearance with white tipped hairs and sometimes some cinnamon tone is observed. Underparts are gray to buff colored. A grizzled appearance is most pronounced on the tail. Other color variations are locally common. Black squirrels are a melanistic color phase observed in some areas. Pure white squirrels as well as albino squirrels have also been observed. Male and Female squirrels have similar size and coloration. Gray squirrels have a summer and a winter coat meaning that they must molt twice each year. The spring molt begins in March and the autumn molt begins in September. Interestingly, the tail only molts once each year in July. In the wild, squirrels are extremely lucky to live to an age of 7 or 8. Mortality of the inexperienced young is extremely high as they are hunted by a host of predators. They have been known to reach an age of 20 in captivity. The tail has important functions for the squirrel. Although not capable of gliding like its cousin, the flying squirrel, the gray will make amazing jumps from tree to tree and the tail acts as a stabilizer. The tail also is used as a signal to other squirrels in the area. Flicks of its tail are punctuated by staccato vocalizations. The tail acts as a blanket that the animal wraps around its body as it sleeps. It can even be sacrificed to escape a predator’s grip. Typically, the sheath of skin and fur will slip off along with some of the caudal vertebrae. The tail is not re-grown as with lizards and amphibians that use a similar escape strategy.
Geographic RangeThe home range of the Eastern Gray Squirrel includes the area enclosed by a line from the southern parts of the Canadian Prairie Provinces across to Southern Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick, and from Maine to Florida and across to Texas and back north to Canada by way of the prairie states.
BehaviorThe Gray Squirrel is arborial in its lifestyle. It spends most of its life scampering about in trees. It is extremely wary when on the ground and exposed to predators. It is most active during daylight hours. They do not hibernate and can be observed around midday in the winter making forays to locate their stored food caches. Humans and other creatures that might threaten a squirrel are likely to trigger an alarm display that consists of jerky tail movements combined with a rapid series of clucking sounds. If the intruder moves closer, the squirrel will move around the trunk of the tree to keep the tree trunk between it and the threat. Gray squirrels seem to make good neighbors as there is not a lot of serious territorial behavior. Home ranges frequently overlap, with the home ranges of males larger than those of the females. In the winter, several squirrels may share a tree den. Disputes are generally settled by aggressive tail twitching chattering and bluff charges or chases.
NestsGray squirrels use three different types of nest. Summer Dreys and Winter Dreys are conspicuous constructions of leaves and twigs mounted high in treetops. Winter Dreys are made in layers. The outer layer consists of interwoven twigs while an inner layer is built up with softer materials consisting of bark, leaves, moss, fur, grass, and “found” materials. They are resistant to winter winds and provide protection where den sites may be in short supply. Summer Dreys are less elaborate and provide minimal protection from the elements. They are less likely to be used for litters. Tree dens in hollow trees are the preferred nest sites for raising young.
BreedingThe gray squirrel has two breeding cycles per year. The first breeding takes place in December thru February with the second cycle occurring from May to July. Since gestation takes from 40 to 44 days, this means that young are born in the early spring or summer to fall. Summer or fall litters tend to be larger due to the better overall condition and food availability to the mother. Litter size varies from 2 to 8 with 3 or 4 being the norm. Newborn gray squirrels are naked and helpless and weigh only about 6 tenths of an ounce. For the first couple of weeks, they are totally pink with part of the umbilical cord or a naval spot present. At two to three weeks, dark pigmentation begins to show on the top of the head and back. At three to four weeks, the pigmented areas start to show some fur fuzziness and the ears open. At five to six weeks more fur is apparent as is fur on the tail. The eyes begin to open. At this point the tail is completely furred but it is not yet bushy. Weaning begins at about seven weeks and is complete by ten. It takes from 8 to 9 months for the juvenile to achieve full adult size. Females can produce litters as young as 5 ½ months of age. The potential for high recruitment into the population by large litter sizes creates a need for dispersal of the population. Young males are more inclined to leave the mother’s home range than juvenile females. The increased risks encountered in dispersal contribute to higher mortality among juvenile males and an overall adult sex ratio of almost 2 to 1 in favor of females.
Predators, Diseases, and HazardsThe Gray squirrel faces many predators and other hazards which limit its population growth. Mammalian predators include mink, weasel, fox, fisher, lynx, bobcat, coyote and wolf. Young nestling squirrels may be taken by raccoons, snakes, and red squirrels. The gray squirrel is also subject to aerial attack from Goshawks, Red Tailed Hawks, Cooper’s Hawks and Broad Winged Hawks. Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls may take the occasional squirrel that stays out too late. Gray squirrels are also subject to a host of parasites and diseases. Botfly larvae can cause enormous cysts on a squirrel before the larva emerges to pupate and metamorphose into a fly. Mange can leave squirrels with patches of raw furless skin. Ticks, fleas, lice, and worms also afflict gray squirrels. Another peculiar ailment that is found in gray squirrels is squirrel pox or fibromatosis. This disease is caused by a virus and results in multiple large skin tumors which may appear anywhere on the squirrel´s body. Normally, this disease will run its course and the tumors will disappear unless secondary skin infections occur. If the tumors occur around the eyes or mouth, the squirrel may be unable to see or feed and may succumb due to starvation. Squirrels are high wire athletes, but sometimes they do fall. A greater hazard than falling is crossing roads where squirrels meet their fate in huge numbers. Squirrels are hunted, but they are wily critters that are not easy targets.
Squirrels and PeopleFor many people, the gray squirrel is their closest contact with mammalian
wildlife. Gray squirrels have adapted to live in close contact with
people wherever there is suitable habitat in the East. They seem to
thrive in city neighborhoods and parks as well as suburban areas. Some
people derive great pleasure in watching the antics of squirrels as
they figure out ways to outwit squirrel proof bird feeders. Others have
given up on outwitting the squirrels and simply feed the squirrels directly.
Squirrels demonstrate a considerable amount of intelligence for a small
animal that is fun to watch. If a mother squirrel perceives a threat
to her babies in a nest, she will grab them one by one by the scruff
of the neck, and trundle them to a new nest location which may be some
distance away. A mother carrying her baby as she scurries along a telephone
wire is a memorable sight. |