OUTDOORS: Once Upon A Branch

As one of the most common mammals in Florida, the gray squirrel makes its home in wilderness and urban area trees and is probably the first wild animal young children see in their immediate environment.

These little arboreal creatures of the rodent family are usually tolerated and too often hated by homeowners, and those folks that are not fond of small animals.

Gray squirrels are found throughout the state and are related to the larger fox squirrel, the flying squirrel and chipmunk.

At home in woodlands, southern mangroves and coastal areas, the gray squirrel has adapted to many of Florida's diverse habitats.

In hardwood forests, the long, sprawling, moss-draped branches of the live oak trees interconnect to create aerial pathways where energetic gray squirrels run along.

At slender branch ends, these acrobats leap to reach another tree limb and continue running on through the network of branches, straying occasionally down a tree trunk and onto the ground to fetch a fruit amongst the palmettos. With a palmetto berry in its mouth, the little squirrel will run back up the big tree trunk and along a branch to make a quick jump to the top of a cabbage palm tree where it'll disappear within the palm fronds where its built a nest or keeps a stash of food well hidden.

Such are the routines of many gray squirrels I've watched in the woodlands of the Fisheating Creek Wilderness, the Highlands Hammock and throughout this south-central region.

The gray squirrel is a cautious animal and its large dark eyes are ever watchful for the presence of owls, hawks and larger predators.

Their defensive strategies and communications range from hiding on the side of a tree opposite the threat, vocalizations of repeated "kuk" sounds with rapid jerks of their tail, flattening out their body against the tree, remaining motionless along a branch or running full speed to their nest or a tree hollow for cover.

The chase routines that gray squirrels are often seen engaging in are part of the mating ritual and they usually involve many males in pursuit of a female, as they race along tree trunks, chattering noisily and sometimes stopping to fight one another.

Here in Florida, gray squirrels usually produce two litters of 2-4 young each year.
A mid-winter brood, raised totally by the mother squirrel, occurs in January or February while the second arrives mid-summer in nests made of sticks, Spanish moss and palm parts. After about two to three months, the young squirrels leave the nest and are on their own to claim their territorial branches.

As main participants in the ecological web of natural life here, gray squirrels eat a wide variety insects and insect larvae besides various seeds, fruits, nuts and fungi.

Acorns are their primary food source and when the oak trees produce a big crop of these nuts as is occurring now, the gray squirrels will frequently hide the acorns by burying them. This often leads to new growths of oak trees which are much needed shade trees to have around when the summer sun is scorching hot.

It was the little gray squirrel that helped Florida's early pioneer families survive.
Squirrel burgoo, a thick stew and squirrel pilau, a meat and rice dish, were common fare for the settlers of the wild lands of Florida.

Nowadays, we watch these little rascals perform their acrobatic antics as they eat the contents of our bird feeders and then noisily chatter at us from their tree trunk perches.

The gray squirrel may never totally attain the respect it deserves as a native species and survivor of suburbia.

That's probably of no concern to these agile animals. As long as there's branches to explore and plenty to eat, Florida's gray squirrels will continue to run through our busy lives as they dwell within the life-giving trees of our state.

Noreen Cullen is a Florida wilderness naturalist and photographer and can be reached at ncullenfws@yahoo.com.