The Living Landscape: Going squirrelly – California gray and ground squirrels
- Kathleen Scavone
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Squirrels – you either love them or hate them!
You may enjoy viewing them for their industrious habits and hilarious antics, or you may determine that they are a first-rate nuisance.
Western gray squirrels and California ground squirrels are both endemic to California, and are often sighted in our county's parks. In Clear Lake State Park you may spot squirrels “making their rounds,” along with other little mammals like minks and muskrats.
Western gray squirrels are considered tree squirrels, or arboreal rodents. Their range is all along the western coast of California to Mexico. There are variations, or subspecies that range from Washington state to the western Sierra Nevada Mountains (silver-gray squirrels, Oregon gray, banner-tail and Columbian gray squirrels).
You may happen upon their luxurious gray fur scattered upon the forest floor, as I did. Western gray squirrels molt in the spring, from head to tail, and the nesting mother squirrels provide their young with fur-lines nests in which to greet the world. They will mature at about 10 months, then begin breeding at one year.
These active critters, who bite and/or harm each other, partake of an extensive honeymoon-mating season that extends from December to June. Then, they may produce from one to five “kits” or young who do not emerge from the nest until six or more long months.
You may have spied a Western gray squirrel nest, also known as a drey, as they are large stick-built constructions that are leaf-lined, and are located up in the tree's top story. The good little mother squirrels become territorial and fight amongst themselves as well as chase other squirrels from their nesting locations.
Western gray squirrels forage on seeds and nuts like pine and acorn, but also dine on berries, bugs and mushrooms. Feeding time for adults takes place most often during the morning or afternoon periods, with the seeds they consume providing much-needed oils and carbs to aid in fattening them up.
Watch and listen to Western gray squirrels when they are on the alert. Their chatter-sound is bird-like. They can fan our their luxurious tails to create cover from hawks and eagles when on alert. Other predators include mountain lions, raccoons, coyotes, cats and, of course, human beings.
California ground squirrels are mottled brown, mixed with gray in color. They reside in burrows that they dig out and live in with other ground squirrels, however, they all have their own private entrances, and usually only ever travel 80- 200 feet from their burrows. When they enter their burrow, or become frightened they emit a chirping-type of warning call.
California ground squirrels often eat insects, seeds and fruit, but can also be happy dining on your favorite ornamental plants. They make use of cheek pouches to store away meals for later consumption.
Their predators are eagles, raccoons, and other mammals, along with humans. They are also preyed upon by rattlesnakes, but some groups of squirrels have built up their resistance to rattlesnake venom.
UC Davis researchers have determined that these smart little rodents have other tricks to enhance longevity.
Ground squirrels have been noted chewing on skins which rattlers have shed, then they smear the goo over their fur to mask their scent, thereby staying safe from the threat of rattlesnake bite!
As if that practice was not clever enough, ground squirrels have also devised another method of snake-safety, that of creating heat in their tales, and then madly waving it about.
This unique action makes the snake's heat-sensing ability in its pit organ believe that there is a large, quick-moving animal nearby which is probably too quick and large to consume.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is a retired educator, potter, freelance writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.”