Eastern gray squirrel
Grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis )
The gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis ) is originally a North American mammal species from the order of rodents ( Rodentia ). It belongs to the family of squirrels ( Sciuridae ).
- 6.1 External links
- 6.2 Notes and references
Features
The type is similar to the squirrel, but has a gray fur. The tint can vary from a light silver gray and a very dark black and gray. A reddish coloration does occur but is rare. With a head-body length of 30 centimeters and a tail length of 20 centimeters, the gray squirrel is slightly larger than the European relatives. It weighs 400-710 grams and is easy to spot in the winter because it has no tuft of hair on the ears, the so-called brush. Another distinction is the white tail edges that are always missing when squirrels.
Way of life
His real home, the gray squirrel While in the forest, where it finds in the undergrowth shelter from predators, but it is found in many places in parks and gardens. His nest (also called Kobel ) builds it either in the branches of trees or in hollow tree trunks; it is designed with soft material such as moss, dry grass and feathers.
Grey squirrels are omnivores. They feed mainly on seeds and buds of all kinds, especially those of spruce, beech, larch and birch trees, and the bark of trees and mushrooms, if available in the winter months, no other food sources are available. In addition, they sometimes eat insects, frogs, young birds and bird eggs, and bones; cannibalism occurs. Put winter hiding places with foods that they based their smell and their memory to locate later.
Reproduction and rearing of young
Procreation is very similar to the European squirrel. There will be two, in favorable conditions to three litters in a year, because there are no narrow mating seasons. However, boy are very unusual from September to December. The couples do not stay together for life. The males have no part in the rearing of the young; they leave the females after mating, while this will take care of the nest. The gestation period of females varies 42-45 days, there are up to seven pups per litter born. The young are naked and blind at birth and need to be nursed in the first few weeks every three to four hours. At the age of about seven weeks, they leave the nest for the first time to playfully learn the skills they will need as adults. Gradually, the young animals adjust to solid food and eventually weaned at about ten weeks until they leave about a month later the maternal nest permanently.
Dissemination
The distribution area includes the eastern half of the United States and southeast Canada. Here the gray squirrel is exceedingly common. Thanks to the people it was introduced in England, Ireland and Italy, with sometimes catastrophic consequences for the squirrel is extinct in England by the competition of the gray squirrel almost. In Italy, a similar apparent, and further spread of the gray squirrel in Central Europe is expected for the next decades. In South Africa, Animals said to have been very "successful" exposed.
In the western United States, the Western gray squirrel lives; to distinguish from this the kind described here is referred to as " Eastern Gray Squirrel ".
The naturalization in England
In 1889, the first 350 gray squirrels were exposed in the English county of Bedfordshire. In the following years there were further actions naturalization. The animals settled down so well that the stock in England steadily expanded and now consists of several million copies. Was a result of the spread and is, however, the native squirrels displaced from their habitats, and is now only rarely found on the island. Attempts to eradicate the gray squirrel again were unsuccessful. Reasons for these control measures were the damages that cause the gray squirrel, particularly in oak and beech forests, they peel the bark of young trees. The decline of songbird populations through competition for food is attributed to the gray squirrel. In the 1960s, the number of gray squirrels did not seem to increase further. Co-existence with the British subspecies of the European squirrel seemed thus caused to be possible, even if only by niche formation. The larger and more powerful gray squirrels inhabit the deciduous forests of the lowlands, while cool climate and predominantly coniferous forests are more squirrels in the mountains. But syntopically can not exist side by side, the two ecologically very similar species in the long term. This is probably not possible only because of the constant struggle for food and nesting sites. A habitat can be colonized by only one of the species.
Parapoxvirus
The rapid decline of the European squirrels and the simultaneous expansion of the gray squirrel in co-occurrence areas - particularly in the UK - will also be due to a Parapoxvirus ( Parapoxvirus croissants ). The so-called " squirrel pox " trigger a high mortality rate among red squirrels, while the gray squirrel against undertaken by them dragged pathogens are immune. Transmission of the virus is presumably mainly by the Successive use of the same nest. As there is no vaccine or cure for the disease, these findings support the need for special "Squirrel reserves " that are kept free of gray squirrels.
Others
The gray squirrels are much less shy than European squirrels. When Squirrel Fishing is so far exploited, as the animals can attract on a longer cord with a peanut or other bait. It is even possible, carefully lift the animal until it hovers above the ground. The somewhat strange new pastime began on an American university campus, presumably Harvard and has continued to spread from there.
In the UK, the Save Our Squirrels campaign was launched in 2006, which aims to protect the European squirrel in front of the gray squirrel, by calling the consumption of the latter. These are now available in restaurants and cooked by TV chefs. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced in 2008 the gray squirrel in New Jersey for consumption free.