GRAY SQUIRRELS
"Gray squirrel, gray squirrel, shake your bushy tail", goes the childrens' song. And those squirrels do, as a communication to their relatives. I enjoy seeing the antics of gray squirrels in our suburban neighborhood in southeastern Pennsylvania, and wherever they may be. Gray squirrels are common in the eastern United States; in maturing woods, successional woods, older suburbs with many planted trees, and in farmland with hedgerows and woodland edges. They are adaptable and intelligent, and interesting to watch. Many of these squirrels find ways of getting at seeds in so-called squirrel-proof bird feeders. They all have "highways in the trees" they travel along. At home, I daily see a gray squirrel running along a decorative fence in a neighbor's yard to get grain at a bird feeder. Every day, that squirrel is vulnerable to house cats, red-tailed hawks and Cooper's hawks. And I have wat...