Virginia squirrels

by YankeeJim | December 13, 2011 at 05:54 am

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I don’t want to write the same story that I have in the past about the squirrels in Washington DC area, but I will remind our readers that during the Civil War, soldiers from both sides ate everything in sight. They decimated the rabbits and squirrels around Washington DC. Calvin Coolidge was so concerned about the loss that he ordered the Department of the Interior to bring in some new squirrels. They responded by importing black squirrels.

The local squirrels were gray squirrels and fox squirrels. Today, we have all sorts of squirrels and they seem to live together alright.

“Eastern Gray Squirrels are the most frequently seen mammal in our area. They are members of the Rodent family, and spend most of their lives in trees.

Eastern Gray Squirrels can grow 17 to 20 inches long. They have grayish-brown fur, except for their bellies, which have pale fur. The tail often has silvery-tipped hairs at the end.

This animal does have a black phase, which means some of them are nearly all black; but these are not as common.”