tint on squirrels
Posted by john conroy on April 1, 2007
Q: I feed squirrels. one day their gray and the next they have a red tint to them. is this natural.
Habitat: suburban/yard
State: Illinois
Habitat: suburban/yard
A: Illinois has both the Gray and Fox Squirrels so it's possible that both species are coming to your feeder but I can't be sure. The Gray Squirrels are not always "gray" and some do have a bit of a rusty color on their back too so it's possible that you're simply seeing some color variations at your feeders. The Fox Squirrel is larger than Gray Squirrels and much more rusty colored all over its body so be sure you aren't confusing the two species. Then there's the Red Squirrel (only in northern part of IL) with grayish to reddish fur but this guy is much smaller than a Gray so it should be easy to distinguish.
Check out these web sites for info on squirrels
Fox Squirrel www.siu.edu
Gray Squirrel www.fcps.edu
Red Squirrel en.wikipedia.org
John Wiessinger ( April 1, 2007)