![]() There are typical signs that eastern grey squirrels inhabit an area. Finally, the tail can be used to distract a pursuing predator. It acts as a rudder when the animal jumps from high places, as a warm covering during the winter, as a signal to other eastern grey squirrels indicating an individual’s mood, and perhaps as a sunshade. Many of the common names given to the eastern grey squirrel, such as Bannertail and Silvertail, call attention to this prominent feature. Combining the two means loosely that the squirrel is one that sits in the shadow of its own tail. Indeed, the Latin word for squirrel, sciurus, is derived from two Greek words, skia, meaning shadow, and oura, meaning tail. The most notable physical feature of the eastern grey squirrel is its large bushy tail. A litter may contain both black and grey individuals. Black individuals are generally a glossy uniform black all over, but the species may show all shades of gradation between black and grey. The grey fur is a grizzled salt-and-pepper combination produced by lead-grey underfur, overlain by banded grey and black guard hairs tipped with white. The fur colour is grey or black and may change with the seasons. The squirrel’s fur is thicker and longer in winter. Both of these are smaller animals with a rusty red colour on the body, head, and tail. These individuals should not be confused with the American red squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, which is common to Canada’s northern forests, nor with Douglas’s squirrel T. douglasii, found in British Columbia. There are rare instances of a reddish colour phase and some animals may also have a combination of colours, for example a black body with a red tail. Albino eastern grey squirrels also occur and in the United States a few small, completely white populations are found. This may indicate that the gene responsible for black coloration has some cold-weather adaptation associated with it. Farther south the black phase is less common and is not found at all in the southern United States. Black is often the dominant colour in Ontario and Quebec, toward the northern limits of the species’ range. Eastern grey squirrels Sciurus carolinensis commonly occur in two colour phases, grey and black, which leads people to think-mistakenly-that there are two different species.
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