Fewer squirrels in the country. Seems weird.

[masraum]

We live in the country now, on '6 acres. We have all sorts of critters on our land, deer, coyotes, foxes, skunks, etc....

We have a single large old live oak that is currently dropping a bumper crop of acorns. We also have 5 large old pecan trees that have a better crop this year than the last 3. I do see squirrels most days, but I normally only see one or two. I think I've seen 3-4 at the same time a handful of times over the last 3 years. I'd have thought that with all of the trees that create nuts, we'd have a bunch. Granted, the trees aren't tree to tree everywhere, so the squirrels do have to run across open ground to get to them from other parts of the property. It seems like when we were in the 'burbs, it wasn't unusual to see 3-5 squirrels at one time in our back yard that was maybe 1/20th of an acre.

Maybe they are more scarce out here because there are more trees over a larger area, so they are spread out. There are also far, far more predators, various hawks, coyotes, etc.... I have also been surprised that I've only seen a rabbit twice, and I think my wife has seen one once or twice. I chalk that up to the predator thing.

[Sooner or later]

One less in my neighborhood. It is squashed in the street.

[Evans, Marv]

Same here in a different part of the country, but we don't have tree squirrels. We have ground squirrels, which we consider vermin. When I first moved in, a friend & I shot a dozen ground squirrels in an afternoon. But there is less wildlife in general around here - coyotes, quail, bobcats, etc. I don't know the complete reason for it, but if I never see a ground squirrel again, I won't be concerned at all.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

Same here in a different part of the country, but we don't have tree squirrels. We have ground squirrels, which we consider vermin. When I first moved in, a friend & I shot a dozen ground squirrels in an afternoon. But there is less wildlife in general around here - coyotes, quail, bobcats, etc. I don't know the complete reason for it, but if I never see a ground squirrel again, I won't be concerned at all.

Out of curiosity, because I don't have any experience with ground squirrels, why are they considered a nuisance?

[rwest]

No shortage of squirrels or rabbits around my place in the city. St. Paul MN; maybe more food to be had? Sometimes there will be several in my yard.

The section of bike path I ride frequently has a bunch of black squirrels along it; maybe up to eight. Google says only 1 in 10,000 common grey squirrels are black.

In related observations, I have seen 3 live garter snakes and one red bellied brown snake while riding my bike or walking and 6 or 7 dead ones this summer. It has been years since I have seen a live or dead snake, so I take this as a good sign of a healthy eco system.

[id10t]

Always been that way for me - plenty in urban areas, etc. and seeing not very many when out hunting 'em

[masraum]

Originally Posted by rwest

No shortage of squirrels or rabbits around my place in the city. St. Paul MN; maybe more food to be had? Sometimes there will be several in my yard.

The section of bike path I ride frequently has a bunch of black squirrels along it; maybe up to eight. Google says only 1 in 10,000 common grey squirrels are black.

In related observations, I have seen 3 live garter snakes and one red bellied brown snake while riding my bike or walking and 6 or 7 dead ones this summer. It has been years since I have seen a live or dead snake, so I take this as a good sign of a healthy eco system.

Nice, that does seem like a good sign.

My mom in FL has TONS of rabbits in her neighborhood. There aren't many trees around that have nuts, so I've never seen a squirrel, but there are probably some. She also has otters, raptors, the occasional/rare alligator, and I think she's seen a bobcat once.

[911 Rod]

I think squirrels, racoons and rabbits have become urban animal because of the lack of predictors and the abundance of food that people give them on purpose or accidently.
I can look at my 50' x 100' lot at most times and it looks like a zoo. I'm on the water so that attracts all kinds of critters.

[GH85Carrera]

We have lots of of squirrels here. The tree that shades our garage and driveway has a nest and there were at least three babies. I see squirrels all around the area. No shortage here.

[fintstone]

Folks in the country eat them. So do a lot of other predators (eagles, hawks, foxes, bobcats). No real predators in the city. The only natural enemy there is a car.

Where I grew up (deep in rural Appalachia), opossums, rabbits, racoons, ground hogs, muskrat, squirrels, etc. were rare as they were vigorously hunted or trapped. It was hard to even get anywhere near a squirrel (within range) ...because the few that survived were terrified of humans and ran very fast the other direction. There were no deer or bear or turkey. All were essentially extinct in the area. The nearby suburbs are overrun with these animals now and they are a nuisance. Black bears wander through the mall parking lot.

Ground squirrels were considered a nuisance as they would damage one's garden. They were executed on site just like rats (or foxes because they killed chickens). No one wanted to go hungry because of pesky animals.

[Scott Douglas]

Originally Posted by masraum

Out of curiosity, because I don't have any experience with ground squirrels, why are they considered a nuisance?

Because of the tunnels they build, really can tear up the ground quite a bit. They have a huge problem with them in the cliffs down at the beach here along the bike path in Huntington Beach.

[Sooner or later]

We call our ground squirrels prairie dogs. We got a mess of them in and around a local park.

[speeder]

Originally Posted by rwest

No shortage of squirrels or rabbits around my place in the city. St. Paul MN; maybe more food to be had? Sometimes there will be several in my yard.

The section of bike path I ride frequently has a bunch of black squirrels along it; maybe up to eight. Google says only 1 in 10,000 common grey squirrels are black.

In related observations, I have seen 3 live garter snakes and one red bellied brown snake while riding my bike or walking and 6 or 7 dead ones this summer. It has been years since I have seen a live or dead snake, so I take this as a good sign of a healthy eco system.

Yep, growing up in Minneapolis was a squirrel fest. Still is. It has to do with the amazing park system and lakes everywhere that are heavily wooded in my part of town, which was Lake Harriet. Acorn heaven. About the worst thing that squirrels do is attack bird feeders...we used to sit at our breakfast table in the kitchen and watch them defeat whatever the latest defense was that the neighbor installed out the window in the winter. Good times while eating your cereal.

Mpls. now is overrun with rabbits as well and quite a few foxes, which I never saw growing up 50 years ago. Not sure what has brought so many of both into the city but they definitely were not around in the old days.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

I think squirrels, racoons and rabbits have become urban animal because of the lack of predictors and the abundance of food that people give them on purpose or accidentally.

Almost stepped on a rabbit under the bird feeder this morning. Red squirrels have somewhat replaced the fox types but less numbers of both recently. Seen more raptors around and even bald eagles off the freeway.

I keep the feeder full of a variety because we've lost something like half the songbirds in the world over a recent time period.
Lots of reasons for that.
Migrating birds depend on food sources to make it halfway around the planet twice a year.

Feed can get pricey at the regular pet stores. I get 50# bags of black sunflower at menards and mix smaller bags of peanuts or the other mixes in. Should feed corn as well but I don't trust it as much these days.

And it's fun to watch the social interaction. Had a new family of cardinals and blue jays this year. They sometimes come say hello. Had a flicker for the past decade make a home in the back yard and sing regularly but haven't seen lately. Chickadees are a favorite. Wrens and nuthatches now. Juncos in the winter. Only one small Piliated Woodpecker seen. They big boys are like small dinosaurs. Haven't seen many hairy/downy woodpeckers but had them in the past.

A couple days ago a young confused Cooper's Hawk landed in the dense Montmorancy cherry tree and tried to chase them through it while getting almost stuck. Got ringed by the regular crowd and jeered. Normally a squad of jays will chase them and make a fuss throughout the block.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Sooner or later

We call our ground squirrels prairie dogs. We got a mess of them in and around a local park.

Had to check out wikipedia.

Ground squirrels are rodents of the squirrel family (Sciuridae) that generally live on the ground or in burrows, rather than in trees like the tree squirrels. The term is most often used for the medium-sized ground squirrels, as the larger ones are more commonly known as marmots (genus Marmota) or prairie dogs, while the smaller and less bushy-tailed ground squirrels tend to be known as chipmunks (genus Tamias).

I've seen chipmunks on vacation. That's as close as I'm aware of coming to any of the ground squirrel family. When we lived in Japan, we had moles in the area.

[Sooner or later]

There is a difference. They are relatives.

I'll be driving by the park this afternoon. I'll get pictures of the cute, destructive devils.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by john70t

Almost stepped on a rabbit under the bird feeder this morning. Red squirrels have somewhat replaced the fox types but less numbers of both recently. Seen more raptors around and even bald eagles off the freeway.

I keep the feeder full of a variety because we've lost something like half the songbirds in the world over a recent time period.
Lots of reasons for that.
Migrating birds depend on food sources to make it halfway around the planet twice a year.

Feed can get pricey at the regular pet stores. I get 50# bags of black sunflower at menards and mix smaller bags of peanuts or the other mixes in. Should feed corn as well but I don't trust it as much these days.

And it's fun to watch the social interaction. Had a new family of cardinals and blue jays this year. They sometimes come say hello. Had a flicker for the past decade make a home in the back yard and sing regularly but haven't seen lately. Chickadees are a favorite. Wrens and nuthatches now. Juncos in the winter. Only one small Piliated Woodpecker seen. They big boys are like small dinosaurs. Haven't seen many hairy/downy woodpeckers but had them in the past.

A couple days ago a young confused Cooper's Hawk landed in the dense Montmorancy cherry tree and tried to chase them through it while getting almost stuck. Got ringed by the regular crowd and jeered. Normally a squad of jays will chase them and make a fuss throughout the block.

We get a pretty good range of birds on the property. I used to have a bird feeder when we lived in the burbs many years ago. We got to where we were going through a ton of seed, but some birds were pushing a ton of it out onto the ground while they just ate their favorite seen. We ended up with 2" of seed under the feeder which lots of other birds and the squirrels ate. Now that I'm in the country, I'm letting the birds eat what's laying around which is seeds off of the trees and bugs off of the ground. The Eastern Bluebirds seem to be bug eaters, while the cardinals seem to prefer seeds. I've seen a pilleated woodpecker here, several other wood peckers, migratory birds, raptors, carrion birds, and even a road runner (meep, meep!) which was really cool. The chickadees are always fun to watch and hear. The wrens have a heck of a "set of pipes". When one lands on the porch and starts to sing, it's always surprising how much sound comes out of such a small bird. We've also had scissortail flycatchers (more common up the road near larger open fields) and cedar waxwings.

[Sooner or later]

Here are a couple of the little beasts next to their mound. A couple more in the distance. They were barking fiercely at me. They estimate a couple of thousand in this town.

[aschen]

They all moved to the woodlands, often joke that we live on a squirrel preserve

Much to my doggo's chagrin they taunt her. She is an athletic varmint and catches one every now and then though.

[stevej37]

Around here, the smaller red squirrels were everywhere. Then about two months back, three or four full size fox squirrels moved in. Within a few days, the red squirrels were gone.
They don't get along with each other.