Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Texas Squirrels

There are 10 species of squirrel in Texas. Only 3, however, are found in the DFW area: fox squirrel, Southern flying squirrel, and Thirteen-lined ground squirrel. Only the first of these is commonly seen. The gray squirrel is found further east, because they like pines. There are hardly any pines in the DFW area, and fox squirrels are more tolerant of pine-free areas than gray squirrels. Last weekend I took a trip to a Christian camp aptly called Pine Cove near Tyler, TX, and saw a couple gray squirrels. Though this encounter may seem rather unfascinating to many, it was exciting for me because I haven't seen a gray squirrel in over 3 years.

4 comments:

JulieBelle said...

I am very fond of squirrels, and am fortunate to work as a caregiver in Cypress, TX. There home has tons of Fox Squirrels, and recently I saw 3 tiny little baby squirrels. They actually let me get real close before the went up the pine tree. Is there anything I can feed them while they're young so that they may learn to trust me?

JulieBelle said...

I am very fond of squirrels, and am fortunate to work as a caregiver in Cypress, TX. There home has tons of Fox Squirrels, and recently I saw 3 tiny little baby squirrels. They actually let me get real close before the went up the pine tree. Is there anything I can feed them while they're young so that they may learn to trust me?

Anonymous said...

We live in Denton, north of both D and FW. We seem to have two colors of squirrels--the customary gray/brown with light underparts fox squirrel, and several that are completely reddish brown. One we've named "Big Brown" after the racehorse. Are these different species of squirrels, or just different variants in color?

Unknown said...

I live in San Antonio, TX and have seen an unusual squirrel behind my house. It has an unusually long tail - slightly longer than my housecat's. I viewed it easily jumping from tree to tree. Would you happen to know what variety I saw?