The gray squirrels we always see
We see lots of gray squirrels in our area of Indiana. Within the past week we have seen several squirrels that have a noticeable reddish color to their tails and along the center of their backs. Their coats are not red like the red squirrels we saw at our son’s house in Austin when we visited a couple of weeks ago.
Note the red color of the tail
These are not red squirrels. Reds and grays are two different species, and are incompatible for cross breeding. Reds have much more red coloring all over their bodies. These grays have gotten some reddish tints in their tails and their backs. Anybody seen these kinds of colorations in your area’s populations?
Some folks like squirrels. Others think they are just “tree rats”. I’ve heard it said that squirrels are nothing more than rats with a good Public Relations Department…
Roadtirement 
We have ground squirrels which are close to the color in the tail of your gray squirrel. They are not like rats at all.
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Are the ground squirrels rodents? All of our squirrels are rodents, thus the “tree rat” nickname. They do, however, make pretty good eating.
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All squirrels, mice, rats, porcupine, chipmunks, guinea pigs, beaver, capybara, muskrats, gerbils, hamsters, woodchucks, moles, gophers are rodents and quite different critters in many ways. I’ve heard they eat squirrels down south, up your way, also?
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Oh yes, squirrels are named “small game” along with cottontail rabbits. Rabbit and squirrel feasts at the Sportsman Clubs were common when I was a kid. The first game I took as a nine year old was a nice plump squirrel.
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I have never eaten a squirrel that I know of.
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When prepared squirrel has a mild gamey taste. Takes several to make enough for a multi person meal.
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I see all squirrels as Rodentia, I didn’t know that these two are different to the point of not being able to mate.
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Order Rodentia covers a lot of species, John. See Timothy’s comment below, he has shared a nice list of critters!
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All I know is that squirrels aren’t good for much. Where I worked back home, we used a .22 long gun with a scope to take them out.
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I just posted about this same thing:
http://jmankowsky.com/2021/12/11/follow-the-fur/
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Well, I’ll be! You have answered my question. Thanks for sharing your post about the Eastern Gray!
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I have not seen this in squirrels, but interestingly we have two black and white huskies in our pack that blew their coats and their tails grew back red! They eventually grew out black again but for awhile, they both looked like they were wearing another dog’s tail lol.
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That sounds kind of wild! Thanks for sharing.
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As someone from Australia, squirrels seem very cute creatures, as they don’t exist here at all. When I see my first red squirrel in Europe, I was surprised at how tiny they are scampering up and down the tree. Are they in plague proportions or is there another reason they are not popular?
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Squirrels can be destructive, especially when they nest in attics or tear up bird feeders, etc. Our immediate area has a lot of squirrels, tho not overrunning the area. Thanks for sharing.
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The North American gray squirrels virtually wiped out our red ones. We currently have c140,000, the vast majority being in Scotland. I have never seen one with reddish tints.
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I read something about your invasion of the grays that began in 1870. When people introduce different species into new environments bad things can happen.
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We get a lot of them here. I did read, but this may be a wive’s tale, that they frighten snakes away as the squirrels have an ability to give off a vibe that snakes do not care for.
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Never heard the tale about the snakes, but we have squirrels, and have never seen a snake on our property. Must be true! 😉 Thanks for sharing Keith.
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Now that squirrel is a great little poser. We have in our neighborhood are chipmunks ..they look like a reddish type of squirrel.
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One day this past summer we saw a couple of chipmunks. Funny that we only saw this pair on one day. We’ve wondered if those pesky squirrels chased the little chipmunks off…
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My wife feeds the birds, squirrels and chipmunks by setting out bird seed on our deck and rails. They all get along just fine! The blue jays are a little bossy, but they don’t always get their way. Squirrels are fun to watch. — YUR
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Sounds as if you have a great wildlife watching set up at your place. We have the occasional blue jay, and they are bossy.
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Sounds like you have a very nice wildlife viewing community at your place!
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Wow poor little chipmunks running away.
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Beautiful photos. We too have squirrels here. It is a pleasure to look at them run up and down the coconut trees.
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They are fun to watch! Thanks for sharing.
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We have both red and gray squirrels in Maine. The grays are lovely fellows and fat as all get out this year. But those dastardly little red devils have chewed right through our walls at times.
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I have heard from others that the reds are little disasters just waiting to occur! Thanks for sharing.
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Disasters… with very sharp teeth.
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Great title!
And my father used to call squirrels
“Rats with tails”
Merry Christmas
–Lancers
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Thank you for the visit and sharing your dad’s observations! His comment is very wise… 😉
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Actually, I managed to mangle Daddy’s quote.
That should have read:
“Rats with ‘fluffy’ tails.”
Cheers!
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I’ve been known to mangle a quote or two in my day as well.
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Pingback: A shade of red in that squirrel’s tail – Jackanori, (MPD)
Thanks for your kind words. He is improving daily!
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when i was young we had red ones and sometimes silver ones but now we have practically only black ones who use telephone cables as highways
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Wonder what happened to your reds and silvers? It is fun watching them traverse the overhead lines! I once saw a young squirrel fall off one. The tumble did not seem to hurt him, as he got right up and scurried away.
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https://www.wildlifeshield.ca/blog/why-grey-and-black-squirrels-dominate-red-squirrels/
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Thanks for sharing that interesting post…
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welcome
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I’ve heard people refer to squirrels as rats as well, and annoying, but I don’t see it – they’re too cute (the squirrels)!!
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they are rodents like rats, beavers, Chinchillas, marmots, goffers, hamsters, porcupine …
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Hi Gerdesilets, yes I know that ‘technically speaking’ – I’m talking about the way some people refer to squirrels in a distasteful way, with disgust, as most people do toward rats. Perceptions of squirrels are generally very different to rats, despite their shared heritage.
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Like one of my female neighbor who calls them rats
T
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Yes..exactly 😊🐿
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