Journal Entry #6 – May 1, 2012
University of Washington Campus
Seattle, WA
Weather: Slight cloud cover, mid 50’s.
Soil conditions: dry.
While on campus today, my group mate Marika and I went to this area on campus where I have observed squirrel activity in the past. One just came right up to me while I was reading and ever since, I have loved going there. So our goal was to investigate the behavior of the Eastern gray squirrels so prevalent on campus, and we brought food treat as incentive for some possible interaction. One squirrel in particular, which we named Jopa, was very playful and came so close that he was almost eating out of my hand. At one point, I thought he was just going to jump on me. Squirrels can be kind of scary up close, they are so quick and you definitely don’t want to get bitten. I observed their coats were gray with a brown-copper infusion and it made me wonder if they grow a thicker coat in the winter. They appear to be much fluffier and fully gray in during this time, which leads me to believe this is the case. I also observed one squirrel sort of flicking his tail and fluffing it out and I wondered if this was an aggressive behavior, possibly to make himself appear larger? Or simply just some form of silent communication? All the squirrels appeared to be tame and generally unafraid of humans. They ate the pear that we brought, but were also foraging on trees and the ground for food. This environment seems to be the most ideal for squirrels on campus because they remain relatively closed off from people and there is less traffic.
May 14, 2012
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
Today I went with my group mates, Tessa and Oli, to speak with Aaron Johnston about his research regarding competition between Eastern and Western gray squirrel populations. Aaron is a PhD student in the School of Forest Resources (SFR) and he is examining the encroachment of the Eastern gray into Western gray territory. This research is aimed at assessing whether the Eastern gray is the cause for Western gray decline, and thus subsequent placement as a threatened species. He stated that numbers of Western gray populations are in such decline that they are only found in three places in Washington: along the Columbia, in the North Cascades in the Eastside Mountains, and Fort Lewis Reservation – which has the smallest resident population. He advised that these are isolated squirrel populations, which leads to decreased genetic diversity, and he hopes to augment populations of Western grays at Fort Lewis Reservation (where most of his research is conducted) to increase genetic diversity and enhance species survival. He also seeks to determine if patterns in Western gray resource use and survival at Fort Lewis Military Reservation will extent throughout the PNW in the hopes of finding successfulful conservation strategies in light of Eastern gray’s abundant colonization.
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