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Froscow, I live in the Fraser Valley near the foothills of the Pacific Ranges mountains. Here and in the GVRD metro areas we have plenty of both grey squirrels and black squirrels, and also large predominantly grey squirrels that are actually coloured a specifically patterned mix of white, amber, sable brown, grey and black. None of these three colour types of 'grey' squirrels leave human inhabited areas of the valley/GVRD to go up into the mountains. I don't think they would survive in the wilderness since having become far too adapted to human habitations.
Conversely, you will see no Douglas squirrels in human inhabited areas of the valley and other parts of the southern BC lower mainland unless you hike far up into the forested mountains surrounding the valley, far away from all the cities and humans.
Outside of all of southern BC and the lower mainland, that is to say throughout the rest of BC and on most of the islands, there are red squirrels. And chipmunks. I miss chipmunks, I've seen them everwhere that red squirrels are found in British Columbia but have never seen them here in the lower mainland. I wish they were here (I love them all to little bits and pieces, they're so cute) but I think the much larger and more aggressive introduced greys must have driven them and the reds and Douglas squirrels out of the lower mainland many decades ago.
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It would make more sense seeing a mix of both grey and black squirrels...but it seems here on the island they're ALL black. They mostly stay in human inhabited areas here as well but I have been seeing them more often in more remote areas too, like first growth forest areas.
I love chipmunks too! Unfortunately, none are found on the island I've only ever seen them in the okanagan/kootenay areas. There's lots of wildlife found on the mainland which you don't get here on Vancouver Island. Moose, foxes, grizzly bears, skunks..just to name a few. I think you guys have flying squirrels on the mainland as well, none here on V.Island
We used to live where we had Abert’s squirrels, which are very dark brown to black, with conspicuous tufted ears. For a while, the silver Kaibab squirrels (silver with tufted ears) also hung around. They seemed to die out later, or maybe they left after drought parched the Ponderosa pines they like.
Here, we don’t have the tufties at our home, but they exist in other nearby areas.
Just googled them. Those are quite some ears! Almost like mini-rabbit ears
Red squirrels reside less in populated areas because they eat pine nuts and selectively try to live in pine forests rather than the random mix of items that greys eat. Instead of burying nuts, they put the pine cones in piles aboveground. They're actually more aggressive and loud than greys despite their small size.
Greys do not attack Tamiasciurus chickarees such as American Red Squirrel and Douglas squirrel, they just eat different food and behave differently. Greys and reds are in conflict in Europe because greys didn't live in Europe before and the red squirrels in Europe are a totally different species that has habits that are more similar to greys because they are both in the Sciurus genus. Rats drive chipmunks out of areas because they compete over foods.
Oh ok. I always thought the grey was just more aggressive and competitive...and drove the reds out. However that makes more sense. Where I live, the forest is mostly douglas-fir-hemlock...not much pine.
Hello there. I live on Vancouver Island...just off the coast of BC, Canada. I think we have only one native squirrel on the island (the red squirrel) but we have the eastern gray which has been introduced here. Oddly enough though..none of them are grey...they're all black (or melanistic). 10 years ago, you'd see them only occasionally..but these days it seems like they're everywhere. They're even becoming a nuisance since they like to rob our bird feeders dry I just find it odd that none of them are actually grey, all melanistic. Anyone else live in areas with lots of black squirrels? Apparently they're also a lot more territorial and aggressive than the smaller red squirrel, and they push them out of their territory. It would make sense....I've only ever seen one red squirrel in the 17 years I've lived here.
Also..we don't have the douglas squirrel on vancouver island..even though it is found on the mainland.
We have black squirrels aplenty in Detroit. They seem to interbreed with the red ones. For years we had a squirrel in our yard who was black from the waist up and red from the waist down.
These are the black squirrels in the Wilmington NC area. This is my picture, sorry for the quality!
Interesting. We have black ones here but they are not nearly that black and their tails arent fluffy at all They almost look wiry
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I've only ever seen them in the okanagan/kootenay areas. There's lots of wildlife found on the mainland which you don't get here on Vancouver Island. Moose, foxes, grizzly bears, skunks..just to name a few. I think you guys have flying squirrels on the mainland as well, none here on V.Island
I just find it odd that none of them are actually grey, all melanistic. Anyone else live in areas with lots of black squirrels? Apparently they're also a lot more territorial and aggressive than the smaller red squirrel, and they push them out of their territory. It would make sense....I've only ever seen one red squirrel in the 17 years I've lived here.
