#http://alcor.concordia.ca/~dw_holo/index.html
!http://cad.ucla.edu/repository/people/jonathan/squirrel.html
http://copper.ucs.indiana.edu/~dpaquett/squirrel.html
?http://cybergate.com/~squirrel/
#http://hammock.ifas.ufl.edu/txt/fairs/43566
!http://home.earthlink.net/~javamaniac/squirrel.html
#http://home.texoma.net/~vnickle/
!http://info.ox.ac.uk/~kebl0206/eric/art.html
#http://its02.leeds.ac.uk/primavera/fluffy.html
#http://its02.leeds.ac.uk/primavera/scuirus.html
#http://kermit.traverse.com/media/dbnews/dsq1.html
#http://mallard.geology.union.edu/kth/squirrel.htm
#http://members.aol.com/sqrllovers/index.htm
#http://members.tripod.com/~SadieSquirrel/
#http://members.tripod.com/~Ultraking/
?http://mikey.convex.com:8080/critters.html
#http://paws.paws.org/wildlife/squirl.htm
#http://personal.boo.net/~goober/
#http://pw2.netcom.com/~siouxx/zensqrl.html
#http://sac.uky.edu/~mbpalm0/second.html
#http://spot.colorado.edu/~halloran/sqrl.html
!http://users.ox.ac.uk/~kebl0206/ericschwartz/
#http://w3.one.net/~butch/
!http://web.arcos.org/gil/thewildone/index.htm
!http://web.arcos.org/gil/thewildone/sqrlinks.htm
#http://web.wt.net/~psherr/squirrel_hazing.htm
#http://www.accessone.com/~aaronm/chit.htm
!http://www.batech.com/~gottshall1/html04e.htm
#http://www.busprod.com/quirky/Focus/Focus12.html
#http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~lthomas/nutsy.html
#http://www.chops.com/squeaky/
#http://www.cnn.com/US/9702/12/fringe/squirrels/index.html
#http://www.cs.umd.edu/users/alexchan/squirrel.html
#http://www.cybersquirrel.com/favs.html
#http://www.doe.ca/envcan/docs/squirrel/squirrel.html
#http://www.dot-net.net/butchs/Squirrel/Squirrel.html
#http://www.empireone.net/~steekman/shrine.htm
#http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/tree/17/index.html
!http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/bigmama/18/index.html
!http://www.geckoplex.com/scripts/dbml.exe?Template=/geckoplex_dbm/sqrl/sqrl.dbm&RequestTimeout=600
#http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4649/squirrel.html
!http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9420/
http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/9428/squirrel.htm
!http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Dell/1030/
!http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/2107/rat.html
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/9148/
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/7749/squirrel.html
!http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/8841/rehab.html
#http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Boardwalk/6940/
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Marina/3649/
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Club/1004/
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Alley/9346/
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/4330/
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/6700/
http://www.glue.umd.edu/~weave/cool/squirrels.html
http://www.hevanet.com/benh/sqclan/index.html
http://www.hevanet.com/wgf/
http://www.io.com/~hmiller/squirrel.html
http://www.its.leeds.ac.uk/primavera/scuirus.html
http://www.liv.ac.uk/~tony1/squirrel.html
http://www.liv.ac.uk/~tony1/squirrels.txt
http://www.liv.ac.uk/~tony1/squeak.txt
http://www.macalester.edu/~abeger/squirrel/squirrel.html
http://www.macalester.edu/~abeger/squirrel/sqlinks.html
http://www.maui.com/~twright/animals/squirrel.html
http://www.mathcs.rhodes.edu/~wottle/squirrelpics.html
http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/yeats/ToASquirrel.html
http://www.meerkat.org/mammals/gsquirre.htm
http://www.mich.com/~doyette/squirl.html
http://www.mint.net/~moxieman/aldin.html
#http://www.mint.net/~moxieman/sqrlfaq.html
http://www.nayzak.com/~jgott/html04e.htm
http://www.netreach.net/~dhoffman/pawprints/wildlife.html
http://www.netside.net/~jb/images/treesquirrel.html
http://www.oit.itd.umich.edu/bio/Chordata/Mammalia/Rodentia/Sciuridae.shtml
http://www.owca.com/
http://www.ox.compsoc.org.uk/ericschwartz/
http://www.primenet.com/~doppler/sqrl.html
http://www.rahul.net/squirrel/isq2.html
http://www.rfhsm.ac.uk:81/golly/animals.html
http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~dooleysm/
http://www.si.edu/natzoo/zooview/animals/squirrel.htm
http://www.sils.umich.edu/Calypso/Squirrel/Squirrel.html
!http://www.squirreltales.com/index.html
http://www.teleport.com/~rcameron/
http://www.texoma.com/~vnickle/INDEX.htm
!http://www.umich.edu/~swissmis/lincoln/enrico.html
http://www.uncg.edu/~asneal/subscrub/squirrel.html
http://www.veg.org/veg/News/squirrel.html
!http://www.willamette.edu/~jcable/slf.html
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~tiedeman/asc.html
Cams:
?http://cad.ucla.edu/repository/people/jonathan/squirrel.html
http://taycam.cc.utexas.edu/
!http://www.internet-for-kids.com/squ.html
http://www.rhowick.com/squirrelcam.html-ssi
-----
A squirrel can fall more than one hundred feet without hurting
itself.
A squirrel can use its tail for balancing as it leaps from
branch to branch. It can also use its tail as a blanket to wrap
around itself in cold weather, as a protection when fighting
and as a form of parachute if it falls from a high tree.
The word squirrel comes from two Greek words that mean "shadow
tail".
-----
Common Name: [1]gray squirrel
Other Names: none
Scientific Name: Sciurus caroliniensis
Appearance: length - about 18 inches, including 9 inch tail
weight - between 1 and 1½ lbs., adult
color - commonly salt and pepper, grizzled with tan hairs in body coat
and white belly
Range: common statewide
Habitat: - woodlands and [2]urban areas , especially near oaks,
hickories and other trees
- tree squirrel, often seen foraging on ground
Diet: - nuts, seeds and berries
- occasionally vegetation, especially in spring
- occasionally bird eggs, nestling birds and insects
Reproduction: - 2 to 4 young per litter
- generally 2 litters per year
Behavior: - active during day
- natural shyness can disappear when fed
Problems: - roosting in attics, crawl spaces, etc., in homes
- eating fruit, vegetable and nut crops; digging in yard
- raiding bird feeders and other pet food
- damaging screens
Solutions: - capture and removal using live traps baited with peanuts,
pecans or sunflower seeds is recommended for problems with individual
animals
- removing attractant (e.g., bird food) is effective when feasible
- repellents, scare devices and ultrasonics are not effective,
although taste repellents may solve short-term chewing problems to
non-edible objects
- lethal control, where legal
Legal Aspects: may be destroyed when damaging property, or during open
hunting season
-----
The ever-present gray squirrel is one of the most commonly seen
mammals throughout Florida (see [1]Figure 2 ). These medium-sized
squirrels weigh about 1 pound and are about 15 inches long, half of
that being their tail. As their name suggests, their most common color
is gray with rust-colored hairs scattered throughout their coat. It is
not uncommon, however, to see blonde or black gray squirrels. Under
natural conditions, gray squirrels are most abundant in hardwood or
mixed hardwood and pine forests. They are common in urban areas
though, because they are not very fussy about their habitat needs.
They do quite well in [2]residential areas where only a few large
trees are present. Oaks are especially attractive to them and they can
supplement this food by using bird feeders and gardens.
-----
Squirrels make interesting wildlife neighbors and often can be
attracted to your landscape with minimal effort. Attracting squirrels
with feeders, however, is not recommended because it often causes more
problems than benefits. Feeders often encourage more squirrels to live
in an area than can be supported by the neighboring habitat. When this
occurs, squirrels may search out nesting sites in your home and cause
property damage.
Squirrels are best encouraged by giving them food and cover within
your landscape. Learn which squirrel species occur in your
neighborhood and then landscape your property appropriately. All
squirrels can be encouraged by oaks, hickories and sugarberry. Fox
squirrels require mature longleaf pine in the northern two-thirds of
Florida or south Florida slash pine in the southern one-third. Nest
boxes can be constructed when large mature trees are limited. This is
especially important for flying squirrels, but even gray and fox
squirrels will use a properly designed nest box. Use a bluebird-sized
nest box for flying squirrels and a wood duck-sized house for gray and
fox squirrels.
-----
When squirrels cause problems, the methods used to solve them must be
specific to the problem at hand. Squirrels can cause a wide variety of
problems. Therefore, there is no one squirrel-control method that is
appropriate for every problem that might arise.
Control measures also should include the elimination of the cause that
allowed the problem to occur -- if at all possible. One major cause of
Florida squirrel problems is feeding, either directly or through a
bird feeder. Should this food be reduced or eliminated (you move, go
on vacation, quit, etc.) the squirrels often respond by chewing up
nearby vegetation. Another major problem associated with an
artificially fed squirrel population arises from the usual lack of
good nest trees for them to live in. Many squirrels that take up
residence in an attic or garage ceiling can be traced to a feeding
situation. If your problem has arisen because of this, slowly reduce
your feeding program until you stop it completely.
-----
Squirrels can cause problems by chewing on both edible and inedible
things. It is often impossible or impractical to eliminate the source
of their chewing. If squirrels are attacking potted plants, you might
be able to move them out of reach; if they are gnawing on pipe or
tubing, it may be possible to cover it with a material that is soft
and, therefore, less attractive to chew.
Squirrels also can chew extensively on landscape plants. Here the
problem is more difficult to solve because the problem is the plant
and there are few ways to make the plant unattractive, short of
replacing it with a different species. Female wax myrtles, for
example, are very attractive to squirrels when their branches are full
of fruit in the late fall. At this time, squirrels may gnaw off the
branches and then eat the fruit. Such pruning does not really hurt the
shrub, but it ruins its appearance for several months. Situations like
this will occur each year as long as the plant and the squirrels occur
together in the landscape.
Homeowners frequently attempt to solve squirrel-chewing problems by
using some type of repellent. As a rule, repellents are very
ineffective in solving this type of problem. Visual repellents such as
owl or snake decoys quickly are accepted by squirrels for what they
really are and they are then ignored. Mothballs and other odor
repellents also are usually ignored by squirrels and rarely change
their pattern of behavior.
One possible exception is taste repellents. Taste repellents are
designed to stop chewing. They seem to work in direct proportion to
the animal's desire to chew on the object. In other words, if they
want it badly enough, no repellent will stop them. But if the object
is not too desirable, it will often work. Taste repellents will not
work on large areas, are impractical for inaccessible things like tall
trees and cannot be used on objects that you intend to eat. For those
situations, you likely will need to live-trap the problem squirrel.
-----
Occasionally, squirrels dig in places where they are not wanted. The 2
most common problems seem to occur when they dig up potted plants
(often in the late spring) and when they dig holes in yards either to
bury food or to recover food previously buried. Digging is a difficult
problem to correct because you rarely can stop this behavior with
repellents or by other methods. Potted plants could be removed from
the squirrel's "reach". Normally digging is not truly destructive but
is an aesthetic or nuisance problem. It also is usually very
temporary. Residents must then ask whether solving the problem
warrants the time and expense. In most situations, it is most sensible
to live with the problem for the short time that it is occurring.
Otherwise, the only real solution will involve physically removing the
offending squirrels with a live trap.
-----
Perhaps the biggest problem with squirrels occurs when they set up
housekeeping inside your residence. Squirrels usually come into an
attic or crawl space when an entry point to the outside is not
repaired, either through neglect or by failing to notice it. Broken
screens and roof tiles and gaps between the roof and wall are common
squirrel entry points. Once a squirrel has taken up residence in your
home, it is difficult to cause it to leave. My experience has been
that it is best to physically remove the animal with a live trap and
then repair the entry point. If you attempt to chase the animal out
and then fix the hole, the squirrel will almost always chew its way
back in -- causing more damage than it did previously.
-----
For most situations in residential or urban areas, squirrel problems
are best solved by physically removing the offending animal by means
of a live trap when living with the problem is not a feasible
alternative. Squirrels that are causing property damage may be
live-trapped without a permit from the Florida Game and Fresh Water
Fish Commission (GFC), but if they are to be taken away from your
property and relocated to another area, a permit is required. Trapping
squirrels often is relatively easy, but there are a few points that
must be considered or you likely will be frustrated.
There are many brands of live traps and all of them are designed very
similarly. Choosing a brand is not nearly as important as choosing the
proper size. Most trap companies manufacture a variety of live traps
to catch animals ranging in size from mice to dogs. Make sure the trap
you purchase is designed for squirrels and not some other animal.
Traps that are too small will allow the squirrel to escape before the
door will fully close while traps that are too big may not be
sensitive enough to work with an animal that small.
Another important consideration is the trap's location. Live traps
should never be set where they can't easily be monitored, such as in
an attic or beneath a mobile home. Place the trap in the squirrel's
line of travel or where it commonly is active. If, for example, it
uses an overhanging tree limb to reach your roof, place the live trap
at the base of the tree.
Baiting the trap properly also is important. Use something that the
animal currently is eating or something that it will find
irresistible. Usually, whole peanuts are a good choice. Other nuts
such as pecans work well too. If the squirrel ignores your bait, it
likely is either frightened of the trap or disinterested in the bait.
If this happens, try changing baits first. If this doesn't work, then
you must get the squirrel to be less fearful. Wire the door open so it
can't close and put bait both around the inside and outside of the
trap. In a few days, the squirrel will get used to feeding in the
trap. When it does, unwire the door.
Once the squirrel is captured, it must either be released away from
the capture site or killed in a humane manner. If the squirrel is to
be released, a relocation permit must be obtained from your regional
GFC office or you must hire a licensed wildlife relocator to release
the squirrel for you. Squirrels must be taken farther away than they
will be able to travel. All animals will return to their home if given
any chance to do so. This must be made a near-impossibility. Generally
for squirrels, this distance is at least 2 to 3 miles. Before any
animal is relocated, check your local ordinances to see if any
restrictions may affect where you can release it. Don't release
animals on property where permission has not been granted and never
dump a nuisance animal in another residential area where it likely
will become someone else's problem.
-----
The gray squirrel and some populations of fox squirrel are classified
as game animals by the GFC and subject to rules administered by that
agency. By GFC designation, the eastern chipmunk, Sherman's fox
squirrel and the Big Cypress fox squirrel are protected species. They
may be destroyed or taken only by GFC permit. Otherwise, persons may
take destructive squirrels (i.e., causing property damage) on their
own property throughout the year by means other than gun and light,
steel traps or poison, provided that they may be killed only within
the immediate locality where damage is occurring. The use of poisons
is strictly illegal without a permit. Also check local ordinances
before using any lethal control method.
-----
Weirdo's World #1.2
In the interest of mutual understanding, I feel that I should explain
my position on the squirrel problem.
Uninformed people commonly view squirrels as cute, fuzzy little forest
creatures. It's an easy mistake to make. Of course they SEEM cute and
fuzzy. But the facts show that they are actually BLOODTHIRSTY
ASSASSINS.
I first discovered this horrible truth about squirrels my freshman
year. I was just out of high school and blissfully ignorant, as all
freshmen are (just ask Russ), and one day one of them came bounding
toward me, BENT ON HOMICIDE. Fortunately I spotted him, and since
squirrels prefer unknowing victims, the coward just ran up a tree. But
the point is, he was running STRAIGHT TOWARD ME! His evil intention
was just obvious.
Now that I'm a senior, I really understand the squirrel mentality, and
all I can say is BE CAREFUL. It's rumored that spies have infiltrated
the campus disguised as students. Keep your eyes on people who: 1)
Wash their food (like raccoons); 2) Eat lots of acorns; or 3) Have
long, bushy tails.
Also look out for squirrels with their paws in their pockets (they
pack heat) or those little brown hand grenades of theirs. If we are
careful, WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS!
-----
Mother cat goes nuts over baby squirrels
February 12, 1997
Web posted at: 11:13 p.m. EDT (2313 GMT)
PAARL, South Africa (CNN) -- A mother cat is pulling double duty
after adopting three orphan squirrels to nurse with her three
kittens on a farm near Cape Town.
The baby squirrels fell from their nest during a storm. A woman
found them on the ground and took them to her neighbor, Berina
Malherbe, who owns Kit-Kat the cat.
Kit-Kat took charge and appeared quite happy with her mixed brood.
But with the feline penchant for hunting squirrels, it may only be
a matter of time before the kittens see their new playmates as
dinner, rather than sharing dinner with them.
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