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Post by Backstrap on Jun 12, 2004 13:32:01 GMT -5
Just wondering if anybody else hunt's strange squirrle's for the wall, I used to let them go because I thought they were rare, but actually, they are quite common these days and come in a vareity of color cobinations, in south Alabama they are mainly silver with black and white faces, feet, and black & white ring's on their tails + they are 3 times the size of regular Grey's, I have also noticed several black fox squirrle's with white and silver highlights, and of course the Red one's with black and white highlights, but last year I located several solid silver's and one solid black, and one solid black (melanistic) grey squirrle that I plan to add to my squirrle pole! I asked my WMA Biologist if I should let these magnificant creatures be, he said no they only live to be 4, maybe 5 if they are lucky, and he said as long as they are the big mature one's I have been seeing, take them, he said If I don't the hawks and golden Eagles will end up doing it eventually, or they will die by 4 or 5 years of age anyway! So I have started my collection, and hope to add at least three more this season, but I never get two of the same pattern, I just love the diverse markings of these wonderful creatures!
Roll Tide!
Lee
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243
Conservation Officer in Training 
There's a place for ALL Gods creatures,next to the mashed potatoes & gravy
Posts: 1,216
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Post by 243 on Jul 7, 2004 21:20:02 GMT -5
i have only seen pure black
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Post by mobe45 on Jul 11, 2004 13:40:18 GMT -5
Squirrels in Iowa are mostly the fox ones. Grow to be about 1 1/2 lbs. Most often color is red. Thus the red fox squirrel name. We have a few grey's here but they are much smaller. Almost nobody mounts them. Some sell the tails to the Mepps spinner co. Last I heard they were paying less than 50 cents per tail. Their website lists how to prep and ship. Also what the going rate is. Iowans grow up hunting the fox squirrel. Get to keep six a day. Most quit hunting them here about the time they turn 25. I've taken many with bow. Some just from out of getting tired listening them while deer hunting. My brother used to live in Oregon. He said they use them to sight in their rifles with. But their squirrels are only the size of a chipmunk.  |
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Post by Foxsquirrel on Jul 13, 2004 1:26:51 GMT -5
When I lived in Kansas, all there were, were Red squirrel's, and they are about the size you are talking about, about the same size as a mature grey squirrel here in the south, now a Fox-Squirrel get's 3 to 4 maybe 5 pounds here in the south, they are huge, and dwarf a grey, or midwestern red squirrel, plus they have the distinctive colorings on their faces and feet and tails like backstrap said, even the red ones, have white and black faces, now also when I was in Kansas there where Black-Red squirrels, and white one's too, but it was illiegal to kill them, the Red's if I remember correctly have more of a pointed tip on their ear than a southern grey does, just think we are talking about two different species here, if you saw a real live FOX SQUIRREL you would recognize them imideiatley as being different, and much larger than the midwesten Red's and southern Grey's, I'll see if I can find some pics on the net to put in this subject!
The Fox
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Post by Foxsquirrel on Jul 13, 2004 1:37:35 GMT -5
Yeah mobe you are talking about a Red Squirrel, not a red Fox squirrel, I will shoot a mature Grey, and weigh it since I know the Red's and grey's are about the same size a "Real" Fox Squirrel is at least 3 to 5 pounds I know because I have 6 of them on my wall, two are red, one with black and white markings, one with black and silver markings, one is black with white and silver markings, and 3 of them are of the silver variety, not grey SILVER, one is silver and black, one is silver black and white, and the other is silver with just a white face and black feet, with a dark black tipped tail! I need a scanner!
The Fox
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Post by JCalhoun on Jul 13, 2004 18:53:09 GMT -5
My brother has a mount of a beautiful fox squirrel.
If you want black squirrels, Niagra Falls park is covered with them. Look like ordinary gray squirrels but are jet black.
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Post by Foxsquirrel on Jul 18, 2004 11:37:25 GMT -5
Mobe I got lucky this morning, my Rotwieler mix, kill's a lot of squirrel's and I saw him running around the yard with a mature male grey, still warm, and he weighed 2 lbs 6 oz., and he is drwafed by any Fox squirrel I have ever seen except for maybe a juvienile, so I think what you are seeing out in the midwest/upper midwest are red squirrel's, I don't even think Fox Squirrel's are in that portion of the United States? Someone please correct me if I am wrong! Yeah Jcalhoun, I have seen a few Black grey's here in Alabama, we refer to them as melanistic squirrel's, all sqirrel's have that recessive gene in them, just like deer, and coyote's, or anything for that matter, and in some populations, the recessive gene is bred to the point of it being the dominate gene, it's weird how mother nature work's her majic huh?
The Fox
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Post by JCalhoun on Jul 18, 2004 20:30:20 GMT -5
Never seen one in Alabama. Where are they? I'd like to get one.
The only ones I have seen are at Niagra Falls, NY. My buddy up there thought I went nuts when I was trying to take pictures of them.
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Post by Foxsquirrel on Jul 19, 2004 18:43:00 GMT -5
Well the two I have seen are in Etowa, and Barbour Counties, I'm sure they are around the state just hard to find due to that being a recessive gene, I heard tale of a white one in Etowa County also, on the land I hunt, but my cousin is a tree-huggin' anti, and he won't tell me anything!
The Fox
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