The western gray squirrel has a gray back, pale underside and bushy tail. In Washington, it occurs in scattered pine and oak woodlands.
It has a gray back, a pale underside and a large, bushy tail.
Western gray squirrels eat pine and oak seeds and may cache food. Washington records describe their habitat as small, separated areas. At two North Cascades sites after mechanical thinning and prescribed burning, researchers compared forest features at three scales: nest tree, nest site and home-range core.
From April 2008 to September 2011, researchers radio-tracked 38 Western gray squirrels at two sites in Washington’s North Cascades, following mechanical thinning and prescribed burning. They modeled resource selection at three scales: the nest tree, the nest site and the home-range core. Each scale highlighted different vegetation features rather than a single forest trait.
Trees used for nests more often had dwarf mistletoe, larger trunks and connected neighboring branches. Nest sites had more canopy cover and connected trees. Core-use areas had more canopy, more tree species and higher live crowns. The same features are among those fuel-reduction programs can remove, according to the published study summary.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
The study recommends balancing fuel reduction with squirrel habitat by retaining canopy cover, tree connectivity and large trees of mixed species, while allowing some mistletoe to remain.