Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
This behavior is similar to what is often seen in birds. It's a common and entertaining sight to see
small songbirds chasing and harassing much bigger birds, such as crows, that have violated the airspace
above the songbirds' nests; this behavior even extends to attacks on hawks and other birds of prey that
fly too close to a nest site. In both cases—squirrels and birds—the aggrieved party seems to have the
upper hand, and the offending party flees. In the same manner, gray squirrels will drive away reds that
come too close to their dens.
Many people say they've seen red squirrels chase grays away from backyard bird and squirrel feed-
ers. No doubt they have, in some cases, but this behavior is far from universal. In years of watching the
interaction of the two species at our feeders, only twice have we seen a red squirrel take after a gray.
In one instance the gray ran up a tree, pursued by the red. When the red got too close, the gray turned
on it, and the red squirrel fled down the tree. A moment later the red made another try; this time it took
only a menacing move of the gray squirrel's head to make the red hurriedly depart for good. In another
incident, we watched a red run toward a gray eating fallen seeds beneath a feeder. The gray ran a short
distance, although not in much haste; the red pursued for three or four feet and then turned back to feed,
clearly uninterested in chasing the gray any farther.
In contrast to these two incidents, we've observed countless occasions when grays have pushed reds
out of our feeders or chased them away from a choice spot under a feeder. In general, we've seen the
reds defer to the much bigger grays in numerous ways that make it abundantly clear that reds don't
“drive out the grays.”
It's also likely that if a hungry red squirrel approaches a gray squirrel satiated from stuffing itself
with sunflower seeds, the gray may allow itself to be chased out of a feeder. At that point the red squir-
rel is powerfully motivated by hunger, while the gray has no incentive to remain or to act aggressive.
All of these observations and suppositions aside, there is irrefutable proof that red squirrels don't
drive out the grays. If they did, as one biologist pointed out, there would be few if any gray squirrels left
in the very large areas where the ranges of the two species overlap. Obviously this has not happened.
Both species are common throughout most of these areas, and go their separate ways with only occa-
sional minor conflicts.
Because red squirrels do chase grays on occasion, the erroneous conclusion that the reds drive out
the grays is at least partially understandable. However, the myth that the reds castrate the male grays
must have originated either as the result of an overheated imagination or as a deliberate tall tale.
Merely consider the facts. The gray squirrel generally weighs from two to three times as much as
the little red. Even what are normally the most peaceable of animals will fight savagely, if necessary,
to protect themselves. Nor could a red squirrel, with its little teeth, neatly snip off the testicles of the
gray with one or two bites. The notion that the much bigger gray squirrel would allow its testicles to be
gnawed off by its little relative is preposterous; long before that happened, the gray would make squir-
rel hash of the offending red!
