Squirrel question

[tg]

There are nice fat Western Grey squirrels here in Oregon with a silver back and white bellies but over the years I have seen fewer of them and more of the one in the pic below, they are redish under belly and a duller gray and smaller than the native Western greys, I suspect they are an intrusive non native variety and wondered if anyone might ID them by this pic.

 

[biliff]

Fox squirrels. They're running all over the place here in suburbia. Hope the link works.
Fox squirrel

 

[Flint50]

Yea, sure looks like a fox squirrel to me. Everywhere here in the burbs. Up in the mountains we have aberts squirrels, jet black with tufted ears.

I bet your native squirrels are being affected by the fox squirrel, as they seem very aggressive. too bad.

All the more reason to blast 'em!

 

[tg]

I was wondering if that wasn't what they were, I wonder when they were introduced here, I recall hunting squirrels 40 years ago and never saw any of them just the big Silver Greys, I think they have really displaced the Greys in the Willamette valley,they are quite a bit smaller than the Silver greys on the average, hey Bill do you see anything about them in the Oregon hunting regs?

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Here in WV growing up I didn't see many fox squirrels and if we kids got one it was like getting an 8 point buck. Now they are found about everywhere. Don't know how big those silver-grays you are talking about are but fox squirrels make a nice target!

 

[bingo1952]

Must be a western variety since they are small. The eastern fox squirrel is 50%-100% larger than his grey cousin. Here is a link to some info on the eastern version. http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/easternfoxsquirrel.htm

 

[biliff]

Here's a link to a DFW site saying the eastern gray and fox squirrels are non-native.Non-Native Wildlife

The game regs only recognize the western gray squirrel as a "game" animal with a specific bag limit and season. The fox squirrel is NOT listed as a game animal, protected species (long list of specific species like the chicaree squirrel) or furbearer. Doubt if anybody would consider it a songbird either. As a further out the regs say you can take any rabbits or rodents on private property with landowner permission.

And then the final kicker:

“Unprotected Mammals and Birds”
means European starling, house
sparrow, rock dove and any mammal
species for which there are no closed
seasons or bag limits. However,
all general hunting regulations and
licensing laws still apply. Common
unprotected mammals include coyote,
badger, gophers, moles, mountain
beaver, marmots, porcupine, skunks,
cottontails, black-tailed jackrabbit, rats,
mice, opossum, nutria and weasels.

Basically, no season, no bag limits, just have a hunting license and shoot during daylight hours.

Sort of figure fox squirrels fall somewhere in there.

I've never seen 'em outside of suburbia. Wonder if they're a bit cold sensitive and can't hack it up in mountains.

 

[44-henry]

Do they go good with mashed potatoes and gravy?

 

[jethro224]

Do they go good with mashed potatoes and gravy?

:thumbsup: mmmmmmmm

 

[KyFlintlock]

Yep, that is the old fox squirrel. aka Eastern Limbchicken.

Good luck
Wess

 

[Pork Chop]

For some reason, there is no season for Fox Squirrels in Florida...

 

[tg]

"Basically, no season, no bag limits, just have a hunting license and shoot during daylight hours.'

That is about the best I could make out of it when I looked around the site, I know some Hazelnut growers who prefer I shoot anything with a nut in its mouth, I think you would be lucky to find one Silver Grey for every five of the others anymore in the valley woodlots, they taste as good as the grays as I recall, it has been close to ten years since I cooked any, Squirrel amd dumplins is my favorite way to go, The Grey squirrel season used to run all year with no limit and now it is a two month season, I guess we better get used to the intruders, the Greys are still holding their own to some extent in the foothills in the Maple and Oaks.. thanks for the imput guys and good huntin' to ya.

 

[slowpokebr549]

Here in Missouri, fox squirrels are found more often in pecan groves.They like open timber and hedge rows. Greys are smaller and are more an animal of the heavy,dense timber. Foxes are not as good to eat, as even the young ones tend to be tough. They are,however, quite large and two or three of them make a meal. An old buck can put up quite a battle. I have had some running gun battles with old reds and have always preferred to hunt them with a fiest dog. That way you can keep your eyes in the trees and let the dog finish and fetch any that crash down out of the trees. Take it from an old hand at Fox squirrels, save the greys for the frying pan an put those foxes in the pressure cooker.

 

[tg]

The size thing is puzzling, I havd yet to see one of these "Fox" Squirrels to be as bid as Western Silver Grey, maybe as a displaced species they don't get as larger as in their native habitat, I am gonna have to get out next Sat and does some research on the differences between the two, I started hunting the Greys with a crossman 760 pump .177 air rifle in the early '60s it was a versitile gun, it could be a Garand, a bolt action sniper or big game gun or pumped a few times and the BB could be putdown the front with a piece of bronze welding rod for a "rammer" after watching Danial Boone on TV ...the BBs were a bit light for the big Greys so I had to use the .177 lead pellets...my Gawd I used to shoot conicals :shocked2:

 

[roundball]

"...the BBs were a bit light for the big Greys so I had to use the .177 lead pellets...my Gawd I used to shoot conicals :shocked2:..."

"Minnie Minnies"...and I believe that Crossman has an inline design !!!
:rotf:

 

[biliff]

The size thing is puzzling, I havd yet to see one of these "Fox" Squirrels to be as bid as Western Silver Grey,

Grew up on the east coast and shot a bunch of gray squirrels there. First silver grey I shot out here, thought it had some kind of glandular problem cause it was so much bigger than I expected. Haven't done a side by side comparison with a fox squirrel, but I'm betting the silvers are bigger.

 

[Joe Yanta]

Fried up fox squirrels, fresh picked green beans with new potatoes, fresh corn on the cob, bisquits with squirrel gravy, a barrel of iced tea and poor boy strawberry shortcake.

That is how we had them in southern Illinois back in the '50's.

Joe

 

[slowpokebr549]

Here is a picture for size reference,I have posted it before but this is what we call a red/fox squirrel in Missouri.

Some of em will weigh two pounds or more.

 

[Pork Chop]

Nice! Your dog looks like you just told him a joke and he is laughing at it...

What recipe did you use those critters in?

 

[slowpokebr549]

If I remember correctly Porkchop, those reds ended up in a pressure cooker. I cook em off the bone and then make dumplings in the stock.