gray squirrel

Description:

is the most common species in Georgia. It is found statewide in both rural and urban areas. Gray squirrel adult weights range from 12 ounces to one and a half pounds. Though there is some color variation among gray squirrels, most are very similar in appearance. The slightly larger and more variably colored fox squirrel (S. niger) is also found statewide, but is less common, more habitat specific, and has more of a sporadic, patchy distribution. Adult fox squirrels range in weight from one pound to nearly three pounds. Their pelage (hair) is extremely variable, ranging from pure black to pure blond with all sorts of intermediate color schemes. Red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) are only found in the higher elevations of northeast Georgias Blue Ridge Mountain province.

Habitat:

Oak acorns and hickory nuts provide the most nutritious food for gray squirrels, and they will also eat the flowers of these trees in the spring. Gray squirrels eat a variety of other foods including buds and flowers of other trees, dogwood fruit, mulberries, blackgum fruit, grasses and various forbs