Snowy Day Squirrel

Eastern Gray Squirrel

The diet of the gray squirrel is comprised principally of seeds and nuts, with acorns, beechnuts, butternuts, and hickory the mainstay during the winter months. In autumn, gray squirrels clip nuts from the tree canopy and bury them in the ground, relying on their sense of smell to retrieve during the winter–even digging through several feet of snow. I often observe them stashing the bird seed in the crevices of our old pear trees and find whole chestnuts buried in our garden. During periods of severe winter weather, gray squirrels may stay in their dens or nest for several days, eventually visiting their stores of nuts, as well as bird feeders, during the warmest hours of the day.

When alarmed gray squirrels freeze, then flatten themselves to a trunk or limb and inch around to the other side to stay hidden.