Are Grey Squirrels a Problem?

Red's are indigenous to the Interior of B.C. , the Greys & Blacks are
encroaching from the lower mainland just like the Rats.

What ever you think the grey & black squirrels are devastating
the local pop. of squirrels.

...skwerl
 
Tree rats have to go. The last thing you want are squirrels in your attic, ask me how I know. Then it doesn’t help have an idiot neighbour feeding them.
 
IvoB said:
i see more black squirrels hit by cars than grey squirrels one would think that the greys are smarter
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The wisdom here is that the greys are tamer and do better near humans than the black phase one, but I see absolutely no difference and over the years all kinds of two coloured ones, meaning streaks, blotches and limbs on an otherwise solid coloured animal.
 
IvoB said:
i see more black squirrels hit by cars than grey squirrels one would think that the greys are smarter
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Grey and black are the same species. Black is just a colour variant. They are both Grey Squirrels.
Black is more predominant is cold climates presumably as they expend less calories keeping warm in the winter due to better sun absorbing colour
 
Then you get into Western Grey vs Eastern Grey... out here on the Left Coast Western Grey are native but rarer because of Eastern Grey invasion. I doubt Lefty will live long enough, but if he could handle travel and a new habitat, and if WA Natural Resources wouldn't throw a screaming hissyfit, I'd take him along in the relocation to Texas.

Funny how they're fine with killing but not live trapping and relocating...
 
The greys here in Manitoba seem to be less destructive to buildings. They don't climb our house, like the reds do. They are annoying because they dig in the lawn, and they steal apples from our trees, which they waste and drop to the ground after taking at most one bit. The reds are terrible, and chew through boards, like to get into attics and nest.
 
From out of nowhere comes the memory of this poem I learned in high school. It's British and was written by Mr Humbert Wolfe and pretty much describes the role of the invasive grey squirrel in the UK.


The Grey Squirrel

Like a small grey
coffee-pot,
sits the squirrel.
He is not

all he should be,
kills by dozens
trees, and eats
his red-brown cousins.

The keeper on the
other hand,
who shot him, is
a Christian, and

loves his enemies,
which shows
the squirrel was not
one of those.
 
Butcherbill said:
So you shoot them once you gain their trust, clever.
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Not at all - Lefty earns his keep as a Working Animal by keeping my mother busy so she doesn't bother me while I'm unloading the week's groceries from the car. Besides, he may not talk much but he's a great listener when I need to get away from the laptop before I try to reach across the Internet and Darth Vader one or another of the idiots at the office. So he helps keep both the Old Crab's (she's a Cancer and proclaimed herself thus) meddling and my blood pressure down, two BIG wins.

Get them to see it's better to be on your good side than your bad side, and they can be good friends--bonus, once one becomes "YOUR squirrel" it'll help keep others run off. :)
 
My experience has been reds are more like rats and chipmunks how they get into more odd spaces and seemingly cause damage for fun along the way to their nest or where they’re stealing food. Greys and blacks (same animal) are more like a coon in that they’ll definitely cause damage, but more like just a hole and for access to their nest and not really damage stuff looking for food.

I’d much rather have the bigger squirrels around. Plus they don’t scare away (kill?) chipmunks like the reds do.
 
Sundre Alberta.

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