Eastern grey squirrel

Description:

It has predominantly gray fur but can have a brownish color as well. It has a white underside and a large bushy tail. This is one of very few mammalian species that can descend a tree head-first by turning its feet so that the claws of its hindpaws are backward pointing and can grip the tree bark. Grey squirrels hoard food in numerous small caches for later recovery. It has been estimated that each squirrel makes several thousand caches each season. They have very accurate spatial memory for the locations of these caches, and use distant and nearby landmarks to retrieve them. Smell is used once the squirrel is within a few centimeters of the cache. They breed twice a year, December to February and May to June. The first litter is born in February to March, the second in June to July.

Habitat:

This squirrel is native to the eastern and midwestern United States, and to the southerly portions of the eastern provinces of Canada.

Notes:

Squirrels are also agile and athletic acrobats with admirable tenacity.