Wisconsin Squirrels
Gray squirrels are a frequent visitor to bird feeders. Some folks consider them a pest as they frequently feed on seeds placed specifically for the birds. Long ago, my wife Sal and I decided that any animal that came to our feeders in search of a handout had an equal right to the food placed there. Over the years we have enjoyed the antics of both the gray and red squirrels as they made their daily stops. We also feel that flying squirrels will visit our feeders over night as we have seen sets of small tracks set in newly fallen snow which are different than those left by mice.
Wisconsin is the home of 10 species of squirrels. Besides the gray and red squirrel, we have the fox squirrel, two species of flying squirrels (Northern and Southern), two species of chipmunk (Eastern and Least), the 13 lined ground squirrel, the Franklin’s ground squirrel and the woodchuck. Black squirrels are considered a color variation of the gray squirrel. All squirrels are members of the rodent family.
The fox squirrel prefers older wooded areas and is frequently seen high up in some of the larger trees. Flying squirrels are not really flyers but gliders using the web-like folds of skin stretched between their front and back legs to glide from tree to tree. Chipmunks will hibernate in cold weather but will wake to feed during winter warm spells.
During the last stretch of warm weather, I noticed a chipmunk that was sitting in our drain spout at the rear of our house. It moved to a piece of large PVC pipe that I had place on the ground next to a retaining wall. This was where he/she was apparently overwintering. I placed a pile of sunflower seeds at the edge of the pipe and over the course of that afternoon, the energetic animal scurried from seed pile to the pipe, each time stuffing his cheeks to overflowing. He repeatedly made the cycle until not a single seed remained. That must have been one happy chipmunk as it replenished its winter food supply!