Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Red squirrels are an entirely different proposition. Far more hyperactive than their big relatives, the
little reds have a wide range of vocalizations— most of them seemingly expressive of particularly vile
and opprobrious thoughts!
The characteristic red squirrel sound most often heard at a distance is a long, high-pitched
chirrrrrrrrr
that can last for more than ten seconds. This sound can be approximated by trilling an
r
continuously on a high note. Far more interesting, however, are the red's other sounds, which can best
be appreciated at short range as part of a full-scale audiovisual presentation.
Red squirrels love to scold. At the slightest opportunity they indiscriminately scold humans, birds,
and animals that are unfortunate enough to impinge on what the reds regard as their exclusive do-
main—but most of all they revel in scolding other red squirrels.
A red squirrel, seething with indignation, has a veritable arsenal of squirrelish invective to hurl at an
intruder. In fact, these little squirrels have raised indignation to the level of high art! Chirks, squeaks,
grunts, and other sounds too difficult to describe pour forth in incredible profusion from that tiny body,
accompanied all the while by jerks of the tail and shuffling and stamping of the hind feet. Some of these
sounds—particularly a very high squeak and a low, raspy grunt—seem to be made simultaneously, al-
though they may simply follow each other so rapidly as to give that illusion.
A red in the throes of one of these vituperative displays brings to mind a tiny teakettle as it boils over,
hopping on the stove while bubbling and steaming furiously, or a miniature Vesuvius about to blow its
top. Heard and seen at close range, this is a performance to be treasured! Because of this feisty beha-
vior, incongruous in a creature so small, we affectionately refer to any red squirrel around our home as
Big Red.
The personality difference between gray and red squirrels shows in another major way, too: wariness.
To those who have encountered gray squirrels only around backyard feeders or as furry mendicants
begging for food in urban parks, it may come as a surprise that completely wild gray squirrels are ex-
tremely wary.
When a gray squirrel sights a human in the wild, it either dashes into a handy den or conceals itself
in the top of a tree. There it's almost impossible to see, even after the autumn leaves have fallen. Even
if the person then sits down and remains absolutely still, the squirrel usually won't reappear for about
twenty minutes. In rural areas, gray squirrels are widely hunted for their delicious meat, and any squir-
rel hunter can testify to the wariness of grays in the wild.
Red squirrels in the wild, on the other hand, are at least as apt to remain and roundly curse a human
intruder as they are to hide. Even with the semi-tame squirrels around backyard feeders, some of the
same behavioral differences are evident. For example, we have only to open our door and the gray
squirrels flee precipitously, streaking for the nearby trees. The feisty little reds, however, will stay,
sometimes even when approached within two or three feet, and hurl insults at us like an angry fishwife
whose toes have just been stepped on.
