Grey Squirrel (female)

Description:

Spotted at a feeding place my Mother-in-law made to feed the squirrel in her garden in Somerset-West, Western Cape, South Africa.

Notes:

Indigenous to North America and introduced by Cecil John Rhodes to Cape Town around the turn of the 19th-20th Century. Grey squirrels are common in the Western Cape wherever there are pines and oaks and has not spread significantly into natural vegetation. Hence, while alien to South Africa, it is not considered a serious threat to local biodiversity although it does supplement its vegetarian diet by predation of eggs and chicks in bird's nests. (http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/mamm...)