squirrel

[catdaddy]

is it common for yall to see squirrels in the woods up there

[bilmac]

There are red squirrels in Alaska. They are not the kind of squirrels that get hunted because they are very small, I can't think of another animal that you would relate to except that they probably weigh about the same as a very large guinni pig, with a very different shape of course.

[catdaddy]

yes iam talking about red or pine squirrels,are they numerous up there

[corbanzo]

hahahaha, are they numerous....   I shot about ten this summer to try and keep them out of the shed.... yep, they are still in the shed.

A guy from my home town said in the last year, he shot 38 of them on his one acre to keep them from getting into crap.  They are all over the place.  Hundreds, thousands, billions. 

Becasue of the large population of spruce trees in southcentral alaska, they have a bunch of habitat, and an unlimited supply of food, they are everywhere. 

[Dand]

A friend of mine shot 17 red squirrels off his bird feeder one fall before they quit coming to it. They can really trash a house if they get into the walls. They either make a nest or haul out the insulation for their nests in the trees.  A homesteader friend of mine in the Talkeetna area killed every red squirrel he saw as they had gnawed big holes and notches into his kitchen cabinets during the times he was away from his cabin.  A couple years ago my boy and I trapped about a dozen from around our cabin as a preventive measure. We tanned them up and he sold them at the Christmas Bazar - they went like hot cakes - nothing like a cute 8 yr old selling furs.  We should do it again but they haven't repopulated much around our cabin.

In interior Alaska we also have a few flying squirrels according to the university museum but I've never seen one.  And in the higher elevations and some tundra areas we have ground squirrels - some places they can be thick. And they are a traditional food and fur for western and northern Native groups. I hear they can be good to eat but ones I've shot were crawling with bugs and I decided not to pick them up.

[catdaddy]

do the red squirrels live in the interior of alaska,like outside the citys

[Dand]

Yes the red squirrels are usually present or even abundant where ever there are spruce trees, in communities (downtown Anchorage) and far from any community. In the coastal big tree areas of central Alaska ( Kenai Pen etc) and small tree white and black spruce country of the interior (Fairbanks, Delta, Glennallen etc.). We have plenty here in the northern portions of Bristol Bay - Wood River Lakes / Nushagak River areas where we have spruce. I don't know about in Southeast Alaska - Haines to Ketchikan areas.  You might want to look up Red Squirrel on the State of Alaska Dept Fish and Game website under the "wildlife Notebook" series.  I'm pretty sure they have a piece on them. Also, there was someone who had a "squirrel cam" on line in Fairbanks I think. Do a google on red squirrel and see what you find.

I am curious - why the interest?

If you are thinking about trapping marten; its my understanding that Alaskan marten actually tend to prey more on voles, grouse, ptarmigan and such - squirrels not so much.  At least that's what I've read from some very serious Alaskan marten trappers (one has caught up to 200+ in a good season).

HTH

[catdaddy]

i shot a couple in north carolina and they offerd much sport, and while they werent very meaty, they diddnt taste half bad either,thankyou for all of your replies 

[corbanzo]

Come on up!  I'll show you where I live, and you can kill every one of the bastards!  Though I'm sure every one will never happen... once you kill "all of them" some more come and fill the open habitat space.  As they are small, they do make good target practice. 

People sometimes wonder why I want to kill every single squirrel I see, some have tried to stop me, but it won't work.  I mean, I am not for the wanton killing of every animal I see...  just squirrels.  And it all spans from years ago, in my youth, when I was ten or so I believe.  I was on a camping trip to jakalof bay with the boy scouts, and after some clam digging, we came back to camp, and I found a hole in my backpack.  A damn squirrel had chewed threw my backpack and ate about 1/8 of a pack of ramen from inside.  Ever since that day, I have sworn revenge on every @#$%Y&^%^#$%$^@ squirrel I have seen. 

[Winter Hawk]

Brings to mind when I built the little cabin outside of Fairbanks.  There was a cute little squirrel which would come sit on the end of the top log in the side wall.  He got quite tame and would eat peanut butter off my finger.  That lasted until the day I came home and found he had chewed a slot down the side of a plastic garbage can I had dog food in, and half the Purina was GONE!  The next time I saw him I opened up with my 9mm.  I didn't hit him, but he didn't bother me again.

And there definetely are flying squirrels in the Fairbanks area.  Years ago I was at Al Weber's place and we were walking in the aspen woods at dusk.  Suddenly a critter swooped past us and lighted agains the bole of a tree.  At first we thought it was some type of bird until Al identified it.

-Winter Hawk-

[jgalar]

Hmmm, you learn something new everyday. I thought squirrel was the term you Alaskans used when referring to small bears!? 

[corbanzo]

Actually that was one i learned in new mexico.  I was down there and they called the chipmunks "minibears."