Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)
these squirrels are famous for their hoarding behaviour, gathering and hiding away an astonishing number of stashes of food spread out in different places. when coming across an abundant supply such as acorns from an oak tree they get very busy making temporary stashes to be moved to more secure spots later.
while they have a good memory of where they have hidden their reserves and an excellent sense of smell, it is inevitable that they either forget or do not need some of the sites. this behaviour is what makes these squirrels such an important species for the forest ecology. in effect they are spreading and sowing seeds that grow into trees
these squirrels adapt well to human environments, rural areas, farmland and urban parks. they are known to raid gardens but are particularly fond of raiding bird feeders for sunflower seeds and the like. while many bird feeders are specifically designed to be squirrel proof, this rarely deters the clever and resourceful squirrels from attempting and often enough succeeding
i took all of these shots with my Lumix FZ300 on a recent visit to Massachusetts, USA. Please do not copy them without my permission
