Family SCIURIDAE 147 



Life History. — The fox squirrel is familiar to most people 

 in Illinois, for it occurs in many of the city parks and farm 

 wood lots of the state. Since it prefers woods with openings, the 

 removal of timber for lumber or the grazing of woodlands bj 

 cattle has not adversely affected the fox squirrel so much as the 

 gray squirrel. Wood lots of even a few acres provide suitable 

 habitat if they are connected by hedgerows or scattered trees, 

 and if they have trees with cavities and trees that produce nuts 

 or other seeds. 



The fox squirrel lives in a leaf nest, fig. 9, or in the cavity of 

 a hollow tree. It has two periods of mating and breeding, one 

 in midwinter (December or January) and another in early sum- 

 mer (May in southern, June in northern Illinois). Young num- 

 bering two to five per litter are born in February or March and 

 in July or August. A female of 2 years or older may have two 

 litters a year, but a yearling has only one litter. 



The fox squirrel feeds on nuts, fruits of the oak, elm, and 

 beech, corn, tree buds, mushrooms, and even birds' eggs. Mast 

 is important in fall and winter; fleshy fruits, buds, and left-over 

 mast in spring; many items in summer. Nuts for winter use are 

 individually buried in small pits the animal digs in the ground. 

 The fox squirrel does not hibernate; it hunts out, actually 

 smells out, these food reserves when winter comes. Because of 

 its habit of burying food, the fox squirrel spends much time on 

 the ground and frequently moves considerable distances from 

 trees. 



Signs. — Fox squirrel tracks, fig. 34, average slightly larger 

 than gray squirrel tracks, and the small prints of the front feet 

 are more often paired. Their location helps to distinguish 

 tracks of the two species. If the tracks are along hedgerows, 

 along narrow strips of timber, or among widely scattered trees 

 in pastures or cultivated fields, they generally belong to the fox 

 squirrel. If they are in very dense stands of brushy timber, they 

 are likely to belong to the gray squirrel. The leaf nest of the 

 fox squirrel resembles that of the gray squirrel. 



Distribution. — The fox squirrel occurs throughout Illinois. 

 Individuals in this state are of the subspecies Sciurus niger 

 rufiventer Geoffroy. The range of the species extends from 

 Delaware and southern Pennsylvania westward through south- 

 ern Minnesota, Nebraska, and much of Texas, and southward 

 to the Gulf of Mexico. 



