Squirrel wars

Eastern Grey Squirrel, Sciurus carolinensus

American Red Squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus

There's a battle going on, and it's in my backyard. Fortunately, I'm only involved as a spectator. I hear of those who attempt to outwit the squirrels that feast on their birdfeeders, but I'm not one of them. That is a certain path to frustration, one I'm not willing to take. Around here the squirrels are as welcome to the backyard birdseed as the birds are. I didn't even bat an eyelash when the red squirrel chewed through the lid to the plastic birdseed storage container in the shed, I merely applauded his determination and ingenuity (and plotted to store the seeds in a metal bin).

The squirrel drama involves the Red Squirrel versus the Grey Squirrel (ours are actually black in colour). The red squirrel is only about 2/3 the size of the grey squirrel, but is much more aggressive and routinely chases the black squirrels out of the yard.

The Handbook of Nature Study has a section on squirrels, pgs 233 to 238.

"A squirrel always establishes certain roads to and from his abiding place and almost invariably follows them. Such a path may be entirely in the tree tops,with air bridges from a certain branch of one tree to a certain branch of another, or it may be partially on the ground between trees. I have made notes of these paths in the vicinity of my own home, and have noted that if a squirrel leaves them for exploring, he goes warily; while, when following them, he is quite reckless in his haste." pg. 234

I have noticed that the Red Squirrel always enters my yard by walking along the same part of the fence. I want to observe their paths and see if I can figure out where their 'roads' are through my yard. Apparently the red squirrel's fur colour changes between winter and summer, I'll be watching for that as well this spring.

There are at least 3 Grey squirrels that visit my yard but only one Red squirrel. Now that I know where the Red Squirrel comes into the yard, I noticed that one of the Grey squirrels was standing on the fence along the path the Red squirrel follows. I wondered if he was on sentry duty while the other grey squirrels had a chance to eat. The coats on two of the grey squirrels also have some bare patches and are looking quite ragged, perhaps they are war wounds?

We shall see if the two squirrel species will come to a sort of truce and share my yard, or if one species will win out in the end. We shall also see if the 3 Grey Squirrels will continue to coexist happily or if they will start battling each other for backyard supremacy.