Opportunist gray squirrel seeking lunch
Gray squirrels are, like rats and pigeons, the type of creature you are more likely to see in urban or suburban areas; they have been able to adjust to locales where all traces of native vegetation have been wiped out. And like pigeons and rats, they are able to eat the trash so readily available where groups of humans live.Â
My immediate hypothesis pointed to food. I had read in my trusty field guide that red squirrels eat conifer cone seeds, so it makes sense that they would be less likely to have interest in a tree free area. As it happens I do own some untouched woodland around my house which includes several pines, but I have never seen a red squirrel. If my hypothesis were correct, a red squirrel would indeed have something to eat nearby (i.e. pine cones). However, if the red squirrel moved beyond this wooded acreage he would find it both tree free and full of non-native vegetation. This would give him no reason to stick around. The one place that I have viewed red squirrels here on Cape Cod, is Nickerson State park in Brewster. The trees and other vegetation are left as-is there, and red squirrels can find more of the food they require.
Some additional research is proving my first assumption wrong. It looks like both gray and red squirrels eat some of the exact same foods: oak, hickory, maple, birch, spruce, serviceberry and fungi. I found their dietary requirements at a great site run by the Humane Society Cape Wildlife Center.  They have an extensive list of what plants will make your yard and neighborhood hospitable to wildlife. So, the key to why red squirrels aren’t hanging out in my yard with the other critters has got to be other than diet alone. For some reason, they are not thriving as the gray squirrels do in areas overrun with humans.
I come across one interesting piece of information, in the Insider’s Guide to Cape Cod and the Islands the writer talks about how 50 years ago the squirrel was hunted to extinction on the island of Nantucket. There is no mention of which type of squirrel was hunted. But, if both red and gray squirrels were hunted here on the mainland Cape, maybe gray squirrels were able to somehow repopulate in a quicker manner. Perhaps suburban and city gray squirrels came back over the bridges. It sounds silly, but that is the actual story of how coyotes repopulated the Cape.
An official Cape Cod National Park document lists gray squirrels as “abundant†and red squirrels as “commonâ€. Kind of what I have noticed, I guess, but it doesn’t offer any more information. Even though I am not getting the info I want, I am getting a great history lesson. I find a 1902 magazine put out by the American Canoe Association, League of American Sportsmen that implores readers to stop killing squirrels and Cape shore birds for fear they would become extinct!
Finally, trusty Wikipedia tells me that the American Red Squirrel “defends a year-round territoryâ€. So I wasn’t all that off the mark. This smaller, cuter species of squirrel is highly territorial! I find out that red squirrels can probably eat some of the same things that gray squirrels will eat – but may not live so peacefully in close quarters. Basically, they need a large area to run around so my neighborhood is not going to cut it. These animals must compete for a vacant territory and then spend the rest of their lives in it
England is dealing with the much publicized issue of American gray squirrels (an invasive species from the other side of the pond) out-competing the native European red squirrels. The explanation for the crisis in England is given on Wikipedia and I feel safe in using it to explain some of what is reflected in the populations on Cape Cod. The red squirrel is “less tolerant of habitat destruction and fragmentation which has led to its population decline, while the more adaptable eastern gray squirrel has taken advantage and expandedâ€.
So there you have it, the answer as to why there are more gray squirrels than red squirrels on Cape Cod.
I am very thankful for this article. We have been talking alot about this very sort of thing as well. The native eco-system is obviously out of balance and we may only be seeing the beginnings of the effects. This is exactly why I appreciate the site that you have here. More people need to be aware of the long range issues that we face, and start working with native plants material. We have been making this shift little by little and we want to raise the awareness among other landscape and tree professionals.
We have a house in Eastham Ma. and back in the 1960s had many red squirrels running along the pine branches. The chatter and such was fun to watch. Our shack would be full of pine comb seeds and we would have to shovel it out. Over the last 20 years the pines were attacked by a disease. The number of pines declined as well as the squirrels. I think they prefer pine seeds and I never saw them eat anything else. The red squirrels declined along with the bob whites and the quails. I think development played a role in the latter and the squirrels went with the pines. I miss the old Cape Cod and I think the Cape is only for tourists and not for wildlife any more. Except for the coy wolves!!!!watch out they are big!!!