Food

Nuts !

It would be easy for young and old to assume grey squirrels only eat nuts. After all that is what we normally see them eating in our parks and woods.

Peanuts are what we usually give them in our gardens too.

It is true grey squirrels do feed on nuts but seeds, berries, bark and even sap add to a quite varied diet. When given half a chance they will also rob a birds nest of its eggs and young.

 

As regards to feeding in the garden there are several options

 

The standard solution is usually peanuts but you should be aware that you must take the same care choosing a toxin free peanut as you would with feeding birds. After all birds will be pecking at the same feeders as will mice if they can reach the food.

 

Many companies produce specialist "squirrel mixes" but squirrels are also more than happy with mixed nuts, hazelnuts, monkey nuts and even sunflower seeds and sunflower hearts.

 

But lets face it given the choice the grey squirrel really is nuts about nuts and will probably seek these out first.

General Background

They have been blamed for the destruction of vegetable plots , chewing through electricity cables in lofts and for trashing gardens in general.

The demise of the red squirrel across the UK has been blamed almost solely on the grey squirrel which has bred in huge numbers across the country.

Many refer to the squirrel as "the rat with a tail" and indeed they do belong to a family of rodents called Sciuridae. Included amongst others in the Sciuridae family are tree squirrels, ground squirrels, flying squirrels, chipmunks and even prairie dogs.

However, they are more closely related to the dormouse and mountain beaver rather than the common rat so perhaps the "rat with a tail" label is a little unfair.

The squirrel is thought to have been around now some 40 million years with humans mere newcomers at about 2.3 million years they probably have more right to be on the planet than we do.

The Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is also known as the Grey Squirrel, depending on where you live. It is a tree squirrel native to United States (East and Mid West) and to the southern parts of the eastern Canadian provinces. In it's native regions the grey squirrel is often confused with the fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), but the normal range of the fox squirrel is slightly more westerly.

Where possible throughout this site I will be using my own images. However I do know I will need some from outside sources and in advance I thank those whose shared squirrel images appear.