Mammals, Original Wild Facts

Wild Fact #780 – The Laneway of Death – Eastern Gray Squirrel

Photo by Ed Sweeney

So I am walking down a sketchy, gravel path in the heart of Ottawa today.  You know the type of path where you expect to find used needles and muggers at every corner.  I just start thinking that I should turn around and head back to safety when this big, black squirrel lunged out of the forest at me.  Alright, maybe he just jumped out onto a nearby log but nonetheless he managed to scare me.  I figured this would be a good time to write about my potential deadly predator, the Eastern Gray Squirrel.

I guess you may be confused since they are called the Eastern Gray Squirrel but I said it was a black squirrel that jumped out at me.  Well, this particular squirrel comes in two colour phases. Yep, you guessed it they can either be gray or black with the black colour phase being dominant in Ontario and Quebec regions.  Interestingly enough this black colour phase is not found in the Eastern Gray Squirrel as you head further south into the United States of America.  This has created some assumptions that the black colour phase is an adaptation to the cold weather climate we experience here in Canada.

The size of this squirrel is usually between 38 to 53 cm (15 to 21 inches) but I am sure the squirrel that scared me was at least 6 feet long and weighed about 150 pounds.  It is a good thing I didn’t try to run when I panicked since these squirrels are able to reach speeds up to 25 km/hr.  For the record I can’t run that fast.

The most prominent feature of the Eastern Gray Squirrel, aside from their death piercing, beady, little eyes, is obviously their tail.  As with other squirrels their tail serves many purposes.  It will act as a rudder when they are jumping from tree to tree or as a blanket in the winter and an sun umbrella in the summer.  The Eastern Gray Squirrel will also use this tail to let other squirrels know how they are feeling that day.  It acts as a very important tool for squirrel communication.

I am off to recover from my harrowing experience but I hope you enjoyed today’s post.

2 Comments

  1. “sketchy, gravel path where you expect to find muggers” in Ottawa??? You’re right about the gray squirrels as they are all over the place, I’ve seen both gray and black ones and they are not shy. One of my friends left some freshly baked muffins on her window sill and these black squirrels decided to pass by the window and help themselves. Chipmunks are also quite common here.

    1. I may have embellished my sketchy Ottawa story although the gravel path I was on down by Albert and Bronson (I think) was definitely sketchier than the rest of beautiful Ottawa city!

      That is hilarious that the squirrels helped themselves to the muffins. Your friend is lucky I wasn’t walking by because I would have eaten the muffins too. It might have been a good opportunity to bond with my squirrel attackers.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.