Wilder Side of Oakland County
There is nothing shy about the Eastern Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), the smallest of our native tree squirrels. Now as summer fades, it’s full speed ahead for this rusty-red fur, white belly, endless energy, tail-flicking creature of the trees! Armed with an attitude of conspicuous confidence and extremely loud chatter, these colorful characters do not hesitate to charge at invading gray squirrels twice their size saying, “My tree! My nuts! Back off!”
If a human meanders too near the Red Squirrels favorite nut tree the red squirrel may glare down from a tree branch or cling to the trunk with the bushy tail up, screeching a chattering protest. It was this persistent territorial intrusion behavior of one Red Squirrel in Northern Oakland County that lasted over a minute that drew my attention. Armed with my camera and curiosity I went in for a closer look.
The squirrel continued to vocalize from the side of the large Shagbark Hickory tree as I circled around the trunk looking up. Looking down, the squirrel followed my every move, and then I noticed what was being defended stashed away in a large cavity of the tree. From the ground they looked like green eggs, but a quick zooming in with the telephoto lens revealed this squirrel’s cache of yet to be husked hickory nuts. Near the base of the tree on a glacial erratic that served as the squirrel’s dining table were remnants of freshly chewed nuts. The evidence showed an undeniable similarity to human behavior when we gather berries in summer. Most berries are placed in a bucket to be transported home, but everyone samples some during the harvest process. The Red Squirrel is no exception and samples some of its nut bounty.
Red squirrels are omnivores eating a wide assortment of nuts, berries, cones, seeds, insects, mushrooms, bird eggs and even nestlings, but with daylight shortening they know it’s time to stock up. They do not hibernate and much of late summer and early autumn is spent gathering tree nuts and evergreen cones to hoard away for the harsh months of winter. Some of these caches are inside hollow trees, others are underground in small burrows they will later reach by tunneling under the snow, and some are hidden in plain sight above ground, such as the cache this squirrel, squirreled away — and then exposed through his persistent chatter.
Red Squirrels are found in all 13 Oakland County Parks with their brazen behavior and loud chatter giving away their locations. An early morning late summer hike is perfect to look and listen for our beautiful little tree squirrels with the loud boisterous voice.
Text and photos by Jonathan Schechter, Nature Education Writer for Oakland County Parks.
Visit Oakland County Parks for information on all 13 Oakland County Parks. Follow Destination Oakland on Facebook and Twitter for more fun in Oakland County!
[…] by hikers. Antlered bucks are on the move. Raccoons raid the remains of sweet corn crops and red squirrels continue their endless harvest of tree nuts. Skunks feast on grasshoppers, grubs and underground […]
[…] knew it was time to stock their winter pantry. Not far from the aspens, and very near the oaks, red squirrels and chipmunks scurried feverishly about with the squirrels chattering loudly on what I presumably […]
[…] likely than not a Red Squirrel with a black […]
[…] ash tree, another rattling call resonated through the woods. The call silenced the chatter of a red squirrel protesting my intrusion. A three second burst of loud tree-whacking from the powerful Pileated bill […]
[…] and almost hide swimming muskrats that search for aquatic greens in a nearly ice-free world. Red squirrels and chipmunks continue to scamper on the fresh snow, appearing as playful as a two year old, but […]
[…] of the eastern gray squirrels, are common. Boisterous chipmunks scamper along downed trees while red squirrels peer down and chatter from overhead […]
[…] on downed logs, waiting for the coast to clear to resume their hunt. Not to be out done, red squirrels vocally protest the trespass of hikers as they perch on black walnut limbs feasting on meaty nuts. […]
[…] and that adds to the excitement of feeder watching. As observers note, it’s usually the feisty red squirrel that drives off the much larger gray or fox […]
[…] Squirrels feast on a near record crop of acorns, hickory nuts and black walnut nuts. Squirrels are hoarders when it comes to a great harvest, but they also sample their bountiful crop as the gnawed remnants of the nuts confirm. Large black walnuts cascade down onto barn roofs with noticeable thuds, and every now and then hit the windshield of a passing car. I’ve noticed crows peck at the walnuts that are freshly crushed by car tires: an excellent example of wildlife adaption to our behavior, just as we adapt to seasonal changes. […]
[…] are in overdrive, scurrying from tree to tree to harvest and store their crops, with red squirrels favoring the cones of spruce trees, while the fox and gray squirrels gather the tree nuts of […]
[…] its haunches barely 20 feet away and nibbled on a walnut watching me closely, while a more skittish red squirrel raced down a fallen log, took one look at me, and quickly […]