Fox Squirrel

img_20160914_131030785This squirrel was suspicious of me when I watched it hiding nuts inside of tree. I was just trying to figure out which kind squirrel and I’ve come to conclusion that its fox squirrel, not eastern gray squirrel as I’ve assumed. I’ve fostered baby eastern gray squirrels a couple times and this squirrel looked different than squirrels I used to take care of.  It helped me with determination of which type of squirrel. Eastern gray squirrel have gray back and white belly and fox squirrel have reddish-hue brown/gray back and orange/rust belly. More comparison can be found here.

img_20160914_131035458_hdrimg_20160914_131204464Fox squirrels have wide range of woodland habitats and because of it, according to TPWD, its Texas’ most common squirrel and it is one of important game animals. Fox squirrels are among seed-eating mammals that help to shape forest composition because their tendency to bury seeds in ground and forget about them, and then seed eventually will sprout.

Reading about fox squirrels and I found it interesting that some say that fox squirrels are least concerned species but others say subspecies of fox squirrels are endangered because of overhunting and habitat loss of mature forest.

Fun fact: fox squirrels have pink bones because they often accumulate chemicals in teeth, tissues and bones.

My iNaturalist observation can be found here.

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