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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing grey squirrels. In their native range, these mammals are known as eastern gray squirrels, because they're only naturally found in eastern North America, however, they've been widely introduced around the world, so it's not uncommon to see them simply labeled as grey squirrels in some areas. Eastern gray squirrels have made their way around the world both as released and escaped pets and escaped zoo animals. As late as the end of the 1800s, grey squirrels were imported overseas as pets! Today it's illegal to keep a squirrel as a pet in many states and other parts of the world.

Eastern gray squirrels are primarily arboreal animals; they much prefer to spend their time in trees. In fact, their favorite habitat is one with many trees that have a closed canopy so they can easily jump from branch to branch without ever needing to touch the ground. While they can regularly be seen on the ground in suburban settings where trees are less abundant, they prefer to stay in trees where predators are less likely to spot them. In many parts of their native range, eastern gray squirrels were actually reintroduced to city landscapes in an effort to bring nature back. For this reason, many consider the eastern gray squirrel second only to birds as animals to observe.

These vertebrates get their common name from the color of their fur. They range from dark to pale gray with a lighter belly and often tones of brown along their sides. In the northern part of their range, eastern gray squirrels even appear entirely black, and the further north they live the more likely this trait is to occur. This may have something to do with keeping warm in colder months as darker colors warm up faster, but this hypothesis hasn't been fully substantiated. Grey squirrels are about 9 inches (23 cm) long with a bushy tail reaching almost the same length! In fact, they're about double the size of the red squirrels native to Europe who the invasive grey squirrel is slowly pushing out of their home.

Male and female eastern gray squirrels look identical to one another; there aren't different observable features between the sexes. Although these rodents are capable of mating and producing offspring within their first year of life, they typically don't do so successfully until they're at least one year old. Female eastern gray squirrels produce two litters per year, once in the early spring and once in summer, so long as there's plenty of food to go around. Males are attracted to a female's pheromones and multiple males show up to mate with only the leader getting to do so.

Eastern gray squirrels make their nests in tree hollows or in the tree canopy where they bundle a bunch of leaves together. The babies are born completely naked with the exception of whiskers and it takes about ten weeks for them to be fully weaned. There may be upwards of 8 babies in a single litter, but 1 to 4 offspring is more common. Grey squirrels can live about a decade in the wild, with those living in warmer climates living slightly longer on average.

Eastern gray squirrels are beneficial to have around in their native range because they help with seed and nut dispersal. These animals collect seeds and nuts throughout the year and hide them for later use during the winter. Of course, they don't always return to every single burrowed piece of food, so these plants have an opportunity to grow! Grey squirrels also eat flowers, fruits, mushrooms, tree bark, bird eggs, frogs, and insects. They, in turn, act as food for a variety of predators including snakes, hawks, owls, foxes, and even people. These little rodents often featured on the menu of the native people of North America, and subsequently in the diet of those who colonized them.

Some fun facts to know about these awesome animals are that they're actually adept swimmers! Eastern gray squirrels can swim 17 miles per hour (27 km/h) if needed. That's faster than most people can run! They're also well- built for life in the trees. Their back feet can turn around 180 degrees so they can face straight down while grasping to a tree's bark. They're also durable and rarely die from falls!

For more facts on eastern gray squirrels, check out the links below. Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today. Thank you to our Patrons SpikeSpiegel93, Dad, and everyone else for their support of this channel! And thank you for watching Animal Fact Files!