A B C ALL WILDLIFE REMOVAL
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 SQUIRREL
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BLACK SQUIRREL FOUND IN AREAS OF WASHINGTON, D.C.

Photos of Squirrels found in the Frederick, Md. area.
five young red squirrels 'just hanging around' They found a nice warm spot on their way to a 'Care site'

Photos of 5 Week old Red Squirrels caught digging through the wall of a Jefferson, Md. Home.

 

Red Squirrels, also known as pine squirrels, are found in Maryland mostly in the western counties. The red squirrel is arboreal like the gray squirrel but is about half its size, with a body length of 7 to 9 inches and a weight of 7 to 12 ounces. Though small, the red squirrel is very active and very vocal.
Also distinguishing red squirrels are its white eye ring and a tail not quite as bushy as other squirrels. In summer, red squirrels may have a black line separating the red/brown back from the white belly.
Red squirrels generally bear three to seven young in the early spring, though occasionally there will be a second litter at the end of the summer.
Much of the red squirrel's diet is made up of pine seeds and cones. Because of this, the red squirrel and other squirrels play an important role in the distribution of seed and trees in our state. Red squirrels also like to drink sap, often nibbling through tree bark until sap starts flowing.
Red squirrels are active year-round (with the exception of those in the northern most parts of Canada, which hibernate). Like the gray squirrel, the red squirrel is diurnal active in the early morning and late afternoon. But the red squirrel does not tolerate squirrels of any species in its territory, it is highly territorial.
As with most small mammals, its predators are hawks, owls, coyotes and foxes.

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Grey squirrel: Sciurus carolinensis
Distribution: Native to North America. Introduced to Great Britain, Ireland and South Africa.

Habitat

Prefers mature deciduous woodland but also common in parks and gardens in towns and cities.

Description:

 Winter fur is dense and silvery grey with a brown tinge along the middle of the back. Summer fur is yellowish-brown. White under parts. Bushy, grey tail. Ears without tufts.

Size: Head and body about 25cm (10in); tail about 70cm (8in). Weight: 350-800g.

Life-span

Some live up to 10 years in the wild although most only manage 3-4 years.
Food: Nuts, tree bark, fungi, buds, leaves, shoots, flowers; will also raid birds' nests for eggs and young.

Daily Life
The grey squirrel is diurnal and most active at dawn and dusk, searching for available food. Compared with the red squirrel, it spends more time foraging and feeding on the ground than in the trees. It is, however, very agile in the trees and can run along slender twigs, leaping from tree to tree. The long, muscular hind legs and short front legs help it to leap. The hind feet, longer than the front, are double-jointed to help the squirrel scramble head first up and down the tree trunk. Sharp claws are useful for gripping bark and the tail helps the squirrel to balance. If a squirrel should fall, it can land safely from heights of about 9m (30ft). They grey squirrel can leap more than 6 meters! Squirrels have good eyesight and often sit upright on a vantage point to look around them. They have a keen sense of smell too! The grey squirrel builds itself a nest, about the size of a football, made of twigs, often with the leaves still attached. It is built fairly high in a tree and lined with dry grass, shredded bark, moss and feathers. A summer nest is usually quite flimsy and lodged among small branches. Sometimes the squirrel may make its nest in a hollow trunk or take over a crow's nest, constructing a roof for it. A squirrel may build several nests.
Although grey squirrels have a wide range of calls, they communicate mainly through their tails, using them as a signaling device; they twitch their tails if they are uneasy or suspicious. Regular routes are scent-marked with urine and glandular secretions. Squirrels identify each other, and food, by smell.

Winter

 The grey squirrel does not hibernate and it cannot store enough energy to survive for long periods without food. A larger, thicker winter nest is built, usually on a strong branch close to the trunk, and a squirrel will lie up in this in very cold weather, coming out now and then to search out hidden stores of food. These stores of single nuts and other items are buried in the ground in autumn, well spread out. They are found by smell, rather than memory. Often they are not found at all and later may grow, helping the dispersal of trees. Winter nests are often shared for warmth. As it sleeps, the squirrel curls its tail around its body to act as a blanket.

Breeding
In late winter, squirrels may be seen courting, one, or more, chattering males chasing a female through the tree or across the ground. Females can mate only twice a year, but males may mate at any time. After mating, the male plays no part in the rearing of his young. The female uses a winter nest as a maternity ward, or builds a new one. She lines it with soft material and gives birth after a six week gestation period (time between mating and birth), in March/April and perhaps again in June/July. An average litter has 3 babies but as many as 9 may be born. The mother suckles the naked, blind young every three or four hours for several weeks. They gradually grow fur, their eyes open and at about five weeks old they follow their mother out on to the branches. Gradually they start to eat solid food and when their teeth are fully grown, at 10 weeks, they give up suckling. A month or so later they move away from the mothers nest to build a nest of their own. If there are not too many squirrels in the area, the young stay nearby; if it is crowded they will be chased away to look for less crowded feeding areas. Grey squirrels breed for the first time at a year old.  

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