All about squirrels: What's gray, red and found all over?

The common gray isn't the only type of squirrel to be found in Wareham. 

Of the 278 species of squirrels worldwide, five call Southeastern Massachusetts home: the gray squirrel, the red squirrel, the groundhog, the chipmunk and the Southern flying squirrel. 

But when most people think of squirrels, they picture the color gray. 

"I've seen [in] multiple places that this is the most familiar mammal on the East Coast," said Elise Leduc-Fleming, executive director of the Wareham Land Trust. "It doesn't matter whether you live in a city, whether you live in Florida or Maine, you've met a gray squirrel."

Leduc-Fleming gave a presentation all about squirrels at the Wareham Free Library on Wednesday, Jan. 17. While it covered all five squirrel species native to the South Coast, it focused on the ubiquitous gray. 

Gray squirrels are a type of tree squirrel, and they have physical attributes well suited for climbing. They have hind feet that can rotate 180 degrees, to give them an easier time going headfirst down tree trunks, and they have muscular hind legs, allowing them to leap long distances. 

The average squirrel can jump about eight feet in a straight line, said Leduc-Fleming — although, she added, she had to position her backyard bird feeder 12 feet away from any other surface to keep out an especially athletic squirrel. 

When they can't nick birdseed, gray squirrels will eat almost anything, said Leduc-Fleming — they are "completely opportunistic" eaters.

While gray squirrels use branches and leaves to build their own nests, they can also make due with what they find — Leduc-Fleming has a nesting box meant for screech owls that hosts several litters a year. 

"My nest box right now has four squirrels bunking together," she said. "I can't tell at this point whether they're boys or girls, but generally they do separate by sex," with male squirrels bunking together, and female squirrels bunking with related female squirrels. 

Each of Wareham's other four squirrel types has its own quirks. 

Red squirrels are smaller and louder than gray squirrels, said Leduc-Fleming: "They're the feistiest, loudest-for-their-size squirrel [type] that we have." They're the other type of tree squirrel native to the area, together with gray squirrels. 

Groundhogs (also called woodchucks) and chipmunks are both ground squirrels, who live in burrows rather than up in trees. Groundhogs are special as one of only a few species in the area that goes into true hibernation, and chipmunks are special for their cheek pouches, which are used to store food, said Leduc-Fleming. 

The area also has one type of flying squirrel, named the Southern flying squirrel. They're the smallest of the local squirrels, and while they can't exactly fly, a thin layer of membrane stretched between their limbs allows them to glide — or "fall with style", said Leduc-Fleming.