Natural History

Posted in Uncategorized | 21 Comments

21 Responses

1. on April 14, 2009 at 2:48 am Christopher

   Lunch?

   
   
   • on April 14, 2009 at 3:33 am retrieverman

     Too small to be eaten.

     
     
2. on April 14, 2009 at 4:38 am EmilyS

   I dunno, but out west we call them “pine squirrel” or “chickaree” but I think it’s a different species (ours is Tamiasciurus hudsonicus)

   
   
   • on April 14, 2009 at 11:58 am retrieverman

     It is a different species.

     
     
3. on April 14, 2009 at 12:22 pm kathleen

   I don’t know what it is called, but we don’t see many squirrels in the West Virginia forest. Perhaps they prefer the suburbs.

   
   
   • on April 14, 2009 at 2:06 pm retrieverman

     In my part of the state, the forests are full of them.

     
     
4. on April 14, 2009 at 10:58 pm ms ann thrope

   Because the native squirrel of Britain is red, and looks much like ours, belonging to the same genus and all. The British squirrel has ear tufts, more pronounced in the winter, I believe, and is also endangered throughout it’s native island, thanks to importations of our Grey squirrel. The Grey not only is larger and more aggressive but also harbors a disease that is lethal to indigenous British reds.
   So obviously, this is one case in which our English ancestors got the nomenclature right!

   
   
   • on April 14, 2009 at 11:10 pm retrieverman

     The British red squirrel is in the same genus as the Gray squirrels (we have three species– Eastern, Western, and Arizona) and the fox squirrel (the big one– it doesn’t live in New England but makes it up to Western NY and Ontario). Their genus is Sciurus. The American red and the Douglas squirrel are in a different genus Tamiasciurus.

     I’ll explain these two squirrel shortly.

     
     
5. on April 14, 2009 at 11:36 pm ms ann thrope

   Jeesh, my sources are wrong then, placing the American Red & The Brit both in Tamiasciurus, and the Grey in Sciurus. Or more likely my sources are taxonomically out of date,lol, being that taxonomists abhor stasis and have to keep redefining things!

   
   
   • on April 15, 2009 at 12:12 am retrieverman

     That’s all taxonomists ever do.

     My personal favorite taxonomic argument is how many species of wolves are there?

     It’s between 2 and 6.

     
     
6. on May 6, 2010 at 8:44 am Billie Paxton

   We call the American Red Squirrel ‘Fairididdle’.

   I also know that some people call a Flying Squirrel by this name.

   
   
   • on May 6, 2010 at 8:59 am retrieverman

     That’s what we call them.

     I think it might be a Scots or Gaelic term, but I’ve not found any evidence of this.

     
     
   • on May 6, 2010 at 9:01 am retrieverman

     I’ve read that people in western North Carolina call them “boomers.”

     
     
7. on July 2, 2010 at 5:28 am PJ

   This particular squirrel is called a Red Squirrel here in New Hampshire where the little guy actually lives.

   They are far more friendly and agressive than other squirrels like the Grey.

   While being considerably smaller and more vocal they are far more willing to defend their space and will dominate most of the time in a one on one fight with the Grey.

   
   
8. on July 2, 2010 at 5:37 am PJ

   Let add that in New Hampshire both the Red and Grey are commonly found sharing the same turf along with the Chipmunk. They all pay me daily visits for their feedbag of sunflower seeds and peanuts.

   PJ

   
   
9. on July 10, 2010 at 4:58 pm William

   I -my just saw your site-Hope I am not being offensive- I used to hunt squirrels to eat-I had a fine squirrel dog-when I first encountered the mt. boomer/red squirrel in wester NC, I found they just do not stop-the dog will follow them for 400 yards or more-you try hitting that target on the run with a .22…it is smaller that a tennis ball–you might go hungry at that sport? I respect the little guys and give them more chances to get away-I am actually sitting here watching the little greys at my window eat their seeds I leave them-one is named Clancy and he does know his name-I can squeal, Clancy, and he comes looking for something to eat.
   God’s little creatures are so special-eating them, well, I guess it is more humane to take ownership for taking our food/meat other than letting someone else take it for us-

   
   
   • on July 10, 2010 at 5:06 pm retrieverman

     LOL.

     I grew up in West By God Virginia, and one my favorite country foods is squirrel gravy on biscuits!

     No. I’m very fine with people hunting squirrels for food.

     
     
10. on August 23, 2010 at 9:27 pm Monanom

    They’re called boomers or mountain boomers

    
    
11. on September 15, 2010 at 5:02 pm Sneezemom

    Just happened upon your nutty blog. Can anyone explain the 3 types of squirrels we have in Carmel, IN?
    One type is red, larger than the other two. The smaller of the reds is much more tame and will come running at the sound of a peanut bag.
    The others I know are pine squirrels….grayish with white underneath. I thought two of them would fight to the death today over a peanut butter sandwich.
    I used to live in Chicago where the squirrels were gray and would follow us and climb up my son’s stroller in Lincoln Park. The smaller reds’ behavior is more like that.

    
    
    • on September 15, 2010 at 5:25 pm retrieverman

      The little reds are American red squirrels.

      The big reds are fox squirrels.

      
      
12. on November 21, 2012 at 7:20 pm Bob + Jean Hilscher (@FrameToFrameBJ)

    Hi there. Well we call the little ones American Red squirrels, and the bigger ones, flying squirrels. I live in Toronto, and earlier this year, my wife, Jean, and I were in Ireland where we came upon the rarely seen Red Squirrel. To us, they actually look somewhat like our American Red squirrels, but boy, do they have long ears! We were shocked to learn that U.K. and Irish Red squirrels are contracting the pox virus from Grey squirrels, and dying. We have far to many Grey squirrels here at our feeders. But up north near Algonquin Park we have seen a few Red squirrels. We feel very lucky to have seen two Red squirrels in Ireland. We have posted some of our pictures and video of our Red squirrel sightings in Ireland, and Canada for anyone interested at: http://frametoframe.ca/photo-essay-red-grey-squirrels-canada-ireland

    
    

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