I was interested to find out that the Eastern Gray Squirrel will interbreed with the Black Squirrel and that they will have litters that contain both color types. I will need to examine my Black Squirrels and Gray Squirrels more closely up at the log cabin! The Gray squirrel lives most of his life in and around one tree and is the least social of all the tree squirrels. Now that I think about it, the Black Squirrels do not hesitate to eat at the bird feeder with me standing right there and a couple have even run up to my feet to beg for food - but never the Gray Squirrel. I guess he will remain my shy one.
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We have both the blacks and greys but I never knew they bred together. Interesting! We also have a small "chipmunk" squirrel that I never saw when we lived downstate. Maybe a little larger than a chipmunk but definitely a squirrel.
and why do some of us spell gray grey?
We have both black and gray squirrels. They love our bird feeders so Simon puts a little shelled corn out for them. They also enjoyed my pumpkins we gave them. I didn't know that they interbreed but my dh probably knows that. He is such an outdoors man & his father taught him so much about animals. He knows all the types of birds we get. We occasionally get a red squirrel & they are very destructive, so we don't like them. Happy Thanksgiving.
~ Pam ~
I probably have 90% black squirrels up north. I always thought that the black's and the gray's were the same. We have fox squirrel's downstate. They are big and mean.
I'd never seen a black squirrel until I moved to Michigan. My neighborhood in Detroit is crawling with them. Grey squirrels, not so much. I didn't know they could even share territories, much less interbreed. That's cool.
I would love to see both colors of squirrels in my back yard. We only see grays! :( Send me a few black sqs and I will tell you if they increase in numbers and if we get squirrels that are grablck in color...made up my own little color name!! Cute pic!
Mona - I wonder if that chipmunk squirrel is a red squirrel?
Darla - ha,ha! I never understood the gray vs. grey either!
Pam - that's nice you feed the birdies too! :-)
Denise - I didn't even know the gray ones existed until we built our cabin!
Ilex - I think the black squirrels have expanded their territory - before I never seen them south of Lansing.
Tina - since i have 100 of them - I will send you 5 gray squirrels!
Shellmo, that picture of the squirrel is precious. We don't have any around our house, but lots of them in the mountains close by.
I feed the wild birds that come in the yard, but they aren't the pretty birds like you have in Michigan. During the summer, we get lots of hummingbirds.
I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Ginger
I am in MI and have: grey, black, brown and those little crazy red ones in my yard! I have TONs...
Look at my post today and see what was at my feeder last week!
Happy Thanksgiving!
That is interesting, but I haven't seen a black one here yet...
Sweet little guy! The black squirrels at my place aren't so tolerant, but I think that's more to do with the neighbor's 2 big dogs, who they let run free and always come barreling into my yard, barking and bristling, whenver they see a squirrel or birds. I don't blame them for being nervous!
Interesting, Shelley... We don't have black squirrels. In fact, I've never even seen them. But our grey ones aren't afraid of us---not like our chipmonks are!!!!
Here in the Adirondacks we have both grey and black squirrels. But the pesky smaller red squirrels are the ones that rob my bird feeders. I've tried to be creative on where I hang my big feeder, but those little critters can jump a long distance! That pic of the grey squirrel is outstanding. Do you have a powerful zoom lens or were you really that close? Great shot!
Sounds like dogs, getting different kinds out of the same liter. Interesting.
Now see, I'd never heard of a black squirrel before I started blogging & I sure hadn't ever heard of one coming right up and begging. Wow!
Great shot. I don't think I've ever seen a black or grey squirrel except in photos.
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