The Amateur Naturalist at Work
As I now consider the winter at an end some observations from that season come to mind.What is the territory of the squirrels who pick up peanuts on our back deck? As I have said there are two black ones we see, and two grey ones. Each one I can now identify. When I go out to the front yard there are often black squirrels on the trees there. Early in the winter, I wondered if these were new black squirrels. It had seemed to me on several encounters that the look in the front-yard squirrel's face was the same as the one I saw in the back (for what seemed the boss squirrel) as he/she was telling me I owed him/her peanuts out on the deck. But one day I got really good evidence - shortly after leaving backyard deck peanuts for the backyard squirrels I got to see the front-yard squirrel holding a peanut in his/her commanding tree position. I think this is decent circumstantial evidence and I know what I must do to make the evidence better. Next winter, likely.
Two black squirrels and two grey squirrels? How come one apparent couple has not grabbed exclusive ownership of our back deck? Property rights among animals are very important and this seems a bit odd. And we have seen intimidation standoffs between individuals, as one chases another who has grabbed a peanut. But they do not seem entirely in earnest. This might be that hey are overly well-fed thanks to our efforts.
And by the way all signs indicate that the two black squirrels are a couple, and the two grey another! Are these guys different species or is this just some squirrel racism? Does anyone know?
The other major strange thing this year was the unprecented presence of juncos in the backyard trees over the winter and the absence of house sparrows, who remained in abundance out front, but were notably absent in their habits of previous years of checking out the back yard. Juncos are pretty small. Can they really inhibit House Sparrows? Moreovr, do they fight over such a small range that they would not enounter my front-yard House Sparrows?
posted by Alan Adamson @ 6:54 PM
1 Comments:
I wrote a story about squirrels and mating for the Post some years ago. One of the things this zoologist I interviewed told me was that grey and black squirrels do sometimes get it on. So I gather it's personal preference.
Post a Comment
<< Home