Western Gray Squirrel

The western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus)

is found in the Pacific coast states of California, Oregon and Washington and a small sliver of Nevada. It is a gray tree squirrel with a bushy tail, white belly and dusky feet.

It feeds on acorns and conifer seeds and nests in the cavities of trees or in tree nests made of sticks and shredded bark.

When we first moved to California we only saw them in the pine trees in the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains.

I loved them because they were so different from the ground squirrels we found in Salt Lake. Over the years, they have moved into Redlands and we now have a bunch that reside on our street. I have seen as many as six of them while I have been driving down our street. Recently, I looked out our back bedroom screen door and two were on the ground munching what appeared to be leaves from our tomato plants. We also see them regularly scampering along the telephone wires and in our neighbors pine trees. All of the photos, except the one above, were taken in our next door neighbor's yard. The one above was taken in Idyllwiled in the San Jacinto Mountains.