Happy #WildlifeWednesday, everybody! Today, we’re taking a look at some of Central Florida’s furry critters, specifically squirrels, and I hope you’ll enjoy learning about the species we have in this part of the state. Again, I’m using some of the slides from my local PowerPoint presentation, so I can condense more info into less space.
WARNING: This post has a LOT of images, but I decided not to split it into separate posts. The slides contain a great deal of information, explanations, and fun tidbits. Feel free to read (and ask questions below) if you like, or simply enjoy the pictures, if that sort of data isn’t your thing.
Hope you’ll enjoy it all. Lots to cover today, including some facts and images that may surprise the heck outta you, so let’s get started.
Once again, how many squirrels does Central Florida have?
Let’s start with the very familiar Eastern Gray Squirrel.
The Eastern Gray Squirrel is our most common species, and a typical backyard visitor, though I have some photos later on that will surprise you.
As you can see, this is definitely an eastern species, though it does lap over into Canada. It has also crossed the Atlantic, but is considered an invasive species in Britain, since it had human help in getting there.
Considered ecologically essential to forest regeneration.
Crepuscular: most active during early morning and late afternoon hours of the day.
Monomorphic: males and females look the same.
Altricial: born naked and helpless, as opposed to precocial, meaning born ready to get up and go. Most mammals are altricial. Some birds are precocial (like baby chickens and ducks.)
The Melanistic (Black) Morph of the Eastern Grey squirrel can be spotted throughout its range.
Time to say goodbye to the Eastern Gray Squirrel, and take a look at some fox squirrels.There are many, many subspecies and color variations of fox squirrels. In Florida, our primary one is the Sherman’s fox squirrel, though sadly, I’m seeing fewer and fewer of these lately as their habitat disappears.
With a body length nearly double that of a typical gray squirrel, and a tail that can be 13″ long, fox squirrels are the giants of our North American squirrels. They can weigh up to three times as much as the gray squirrel, too, and are simply beautiful animals.
The Sherman’s fox squirrel has a very limited range map and is considered a Species of Special Concern.
And now it’s time for the Southern Flying Squirrel, a species that’s quite abundant in Central Florida, though nocturnal, so not seen nearly as often as the previous two. Too bad. It’s the cutest thing ever!
Note how small this guy is! Deduct 3-1/2 inches for the tail, and you have a body length of about 5 inches! Tiny, but amazing!
There’s a tiny bit of overlap between the southern flying squirrel and the northern one. But the species are very similar, with the only difference apparently being with the color of the fur on the abdomen. Easier to go by the location where the squirrel was spotted. In Florida, it will be the southern variety, naturally.
Can you imagine? AVERAGE glide for the southern flying squirrel is just under 65 feet! Glides the length of 295 feet have been recorded!!
Flying squirrels will happily nest in boxes, where available for them.
Do note the size difference between the baby gray squirrel and the baby flying squirrel. These guys are TINY!
Now how cool is this? Bioluminescence is extremely rare among mammals! You have to wonder why these guys have this trait.
Because … CUTE!
But now for something completely different. At least colorwise.
Albino and Leucistic animals can both be white, but they are not the same. (Hopefully, those who’ve read Swamp Ghosts will already know this. 😀 )
(This is quite different from leucistic animals, as seen below.)
Leucistic animals, like these above retain a certain amount of pigment, resulting in dark or blue eyes and much whiter fur, though they may exhibit spots or streaks of their normal coloration.
Albino (red dots) and Leucistic (blue dots) eastern gray squirrels occur in comparatively small numbers throughout their range. Florida has several areas of higher than normal concentrations of blue dots, both in the center of the state and in the panhandle.
And just when you think you’re getting a handle on albinos and leucistic squirrels, along comes what’s called the “champagne morph.” Still leucistic, but even the black coloration is diluted.
Bye, Now! Y’all Come Back!
I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s #WildLifeWednesday, and maybe even learned a few new things here and there. Because we were dealing with three species of squirrels in one post, it is longer than most of these wildlife posts will be, but I hope it was worth it. Not sure what’s on the schedule for next time, but I’ll try to make it a good one. Hope you’ll stop by to check it out.