my neighbor always shoots the red squirrels when they are on his property because he feeds the gray ones. (hes really old and kind of crazy) I personally think its mean and animal cruelty but you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Anyway I hear the gray squires are chasing the red ones away.. why can't they just live at peace with each other?
its like a metaphor for life..
lol help me I'm confused.Red and gray Squirrels can they mix? have babies?
No they can't reproduce. I suppose they could do the mating ritual but it would be in vain. In North America only one subspecies of Red squirrel is on the endangered list. In the Old World the greys are pressing hard upon their smaller reds. Here in North America the Red squirrel is larger than the gray. However, the smaller more aggressive grey runs the Larger Red out just like in Europe. I had heard,but never witnessed a persistent rumor that the grey castrates the Red. Thereby reducing their reproductive potential. To lend credence to the story I know female rabbits will bite off the male rabbits genitals at times leaving them with no penis or no testicles or without both structures. Over most of its range the Red is legal game. Over its range the gray is legal game. Cities etc. excepted. I'm sure someone has caged the two species at birth and tried to interbreed them. I have never heard of success. They aren't as closely related as a horse and donkey. With gene splicing, I'm sure in the near future somebody will succeed. Your neighbor that is shooting the Reds may well be eating them? The old man may just be hungry.Red and gray Squirrels can they mix? have babies?
You should call the authorities on your neighbor. It is illegal to shoot at the red squirrel. If anything can teach an old dog a new trick, a fine, or jail time, can.
Grey squirrels are more aggressive than Red squirrels, and they are separate species so no, they can not interbreed. Basically, they are two separate animals one native, and one not native, that are trying to fill in the same niche, and with no natural predators in the area, the foreign species will normally win, thus pushing the whole local food chain, off balance. Your neighbor is helping this to happen by feeding the grey squirrels..
In the UK the more agressive grey squirrels have almost replaced the indiginous red squirrels now.
No they dont and cant mate they are seperate species.
Your right species often cant live with each other without fighting often just like humans with seperate beliefs.
But there are some great stories and brilliant footage on you tube that proves different species can get on.
not sure if you are serious but red squirrels are protected and if he is shooting them he could find himself in serious trouble.
grey squirrels are vermin and not native to the UK and are making our native red squirrels an endangered species.
im not sure why they are pucshing out the red squirrels but sure the RSPCA could give you further advice.
I don't think they breed together. Grey ones often have red patches and people think they are a cross-breed but they aren't. The greys are bigger, have more babies and eat a wider variety of food. they simply out compete our native red. You should report your neighbour as the red is a protected species.
Since they are closely related, it could be possible, but then again, they evolved on seperate continents, so perhaps not. Besides, the characters of the two are very different- grays are boisterous and aggressive, and the reds are shy and reclusive.
Hi i dont think you mix the red %26amp; greys together because i have heard (that im not sure which way round it is ?) that 1 of the species of squirrel carry a disease which kills the other 1's off
i think thats illegal, isnt the red ones like endangered?
and anyway he should be shooting them grey yankees!
idk but black ones exist and they run out the grey ones, because they're hornier and they take the grey females.
Judging by your use of American English, you are in the USA or Canada? The situation over there is very different from the one in the UK.
The common red squirrel species in north America, the American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) is completely unrelated to the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) found in Europe. Your neighbour may be entitled to shoot the American red squirrel, as they are not endangered in the majority of their range, but you'd need to check up your local wildlife regulations. They still wouldn't interbreed with the grays, as they are unrelated species (a sterile hybrid may be possible but would be very unlikely).
In North America, the American red squirrel evolved side-by-side with the many species of gray, flying and ground squirrels and the different species compete for resources but can coexist quite comfortably without any one species outcompeting another.
In the UK, however, there are no endemic gray squirrels; in fact there is only one endemic squirrel species, and that's our native red. One of your American gray squirrel species, specifically the Eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) was artificially introduced into parks in the early 20th century, where it rapidly spread to the woodlands across England and Wales.
The grey squirrels outcompete the red somewhat for resources, but the main problem is a virus claled parapoxvirus, that is carried by the greys and is harmless to them, but is deadly to the eurasian reds.
The red squirrel population in England and Wales has been devastated, with only isolated populations left on grey free offshore islands and scattered traces in reserves.
The last stronghold is the pine forests of Scotland, where a mustelid (weasel-like) squirrel predator called the pine marten may be helping save the red squirrel by selectively controlling the grey population, where the two species meet
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