dwdruley I knew the Fox Squirrel was a rather recent introduction here so did a bit of searching........
"Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) prefer to live in forests with oak trees where they feed on acorns, their favourite food. In Saskatchewan, these squirrels occur mainly in the eastern Qu'Appelle and nearby valleys, and are rare in other areas. Eastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) are less dependent on oaks, prefering the tiny two-winged "samaras" of the Manitoba Maple as their main winter food. They started to "invade" the province around 1980 and are now widespread in the southeast. Fox Squirrels appear to have invaded Saskatchewan from Manitoba and North Dakota, and they will probably continue to do so."
The underbelly is a lighter shade of red. Re their colour not being quite the same I wonder if Saskatchewan's colder winter has something to do with it? I know my Siamese cats get a darker saddle come winter and they keep it well into spring/early summer. Picture above was taken mid spring 2004.
Cpartschick re Hawks/predators we thought that too esp since our neighborhood has an owl that moves in every summer (in the trees kitty corner to our house) so I was really pleased to see the little guy (but could have been kin) for 3 summers in a row.
I imagine quite a bit of our wildlife is similar to yours.........ones that we are seeing more of lately are cougars, antelope, Moose, deer (mule and white tail), wolves and coyotes (more of a healthy balance of wildlife is occurring here now). . Personally I'm happy that hunting isn't as common as it used to be here and their numbers are steadily increasing.
re birds we are on the major flight path so come spring this province comes alive with their breeding songs I really should get down to Old Wives Lake and get some pictures from there:
Old Wives Lake Bird Sanctuary is an important breeding and moulting area for both dabbling and diving ducks, as well as small numbers of Canada Geese. Breeding species of ducks include Mallard, Gadwall, Pintail,Wigeon, Canvasback, Redhead Lesser Scaup and Ruddy Duck. The Sanctuary is also a spring and fall staging area which attracts large concentrations of ducks and lesser numbers of Canada, White-fronted and Snow Geese and Tundra Swans.
Because of its isolation, the Isle of Bays provides protective nesting habitat for the White Pelican, Black-crowned Night and Great Blue herons, Double-crested Cormorant, Western Grebe, California and Ring-billed gulls and the Common Tern.
A variety of shorebirds use the Sanctuary. Commonly breeding species are American Avocet, Marbled Godwit, Killdeer and Willet. Suspected breeders include Spotted and Upland sandpipers, Long-billed Curlew, Wilson's Phalarope, Common Snipe and the endangered Piping Plover. Common visitants are Black-bellied and Semipalmated plovers, Greater and Lesser yellowlegs, Hudsonian Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Sanderling, Red-necked Phalarope, Short-billed Dowitcher, Dunlin, and Semipalmated, Least, White-rumped, Baird's, Pectoral and Stilt sandpipers.
Other birds known or believed to nest in the area are Eastern and Western kingbirds; Barn Swallow; Sprague's Pipit; Marsh Wren; Yellow-throated and Yellow warblers; Red-winged, Yellow-headed and Brewer's blackbirds; Brown-headed Cowbird; Western Meadowlark; Chestnut collared Longspur, Lark Bunting; Clay-colored, Vesper, Savannah, Baird's, Le Conte's and Song sparrows; Northern Harrier, Swainson's Hawk, the threatened Ferruginous Hawk, Grey Partridge and Sharp-tailed Grouse.
