---
title: "Eastern Gray Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "An eastern North American tree squirrel that has been known to dig empty cache holes when other squirrels are around, and now far outnumbers the native red squirrel in the UK."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/eastern-gray-squirrel-1.webp"
published: "2026-10-11"
updated: "2026-10-11"
---
# Eastern Gray Squirrel (*Sciurus carolinensis*)
> **Status**: Checked against 4 sources, listed under Sources below.
> **Tagline**: An eastern North American tree squirrel that has been known to dig empty cache holes when other squirrels are around, and now far outnumbers the native red squirrel in the UK.
> **Soundtrack Vibe**: Ethereal Wave & Dream Pop // Lisa Gerrard, "Sanvean"
> **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/1yezTVcnO0AD2gqvQ562ZT)
> **Vibe Match**: With other squirrels nearby, greys have been known to dig a cache hole and cover it again with nothing buried inside. Lisa Gerrard sings Sanvean in a language of her own making: sounds shaped like words, with no meaning buried in them.
## Biological Superpowers & Stats
- **Taxonomy**: *Sciurus carolinensis*
- **Danger Level**: Low
- **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2018-2.rlts.t42462a276917738.en))
- **Superpower**: Known to dig decoy caches, covering holes with no food in them, when other squirrels are around
- **Habitat**: Mature woodland, parks and suburbs of the eastern United States and Canada; introduced to Britain, Ireland and Italy
- **Diet**: Mostly nuts, flowers and buds, plus fungi, insects, bird eggs and nestlings
- **Tags**: mammal, rodent, woodland, urban, invasive, agile
## Natural History & Behavior
## Fake burying, real hoarding
Gray squirrels (*Sciurus carolinensis*) bury food in winter caches. They use scatter hoarding, hiding food in many small caches instead of one big pile, and they find the caches again using memory and smell. The Natural History Museum in London says spreading the stash out is thought to reduce the damage when another squirrel steals from it.
Then comes the trick, which the museum calls deceptive caching.
> **Decoy holes**
> With other squirrels nearby, greys have been known to dig a cache hole and cover it again with nothing buried inside.
The museum says this may act as a distraction that keeps carefully foraged food from being stolen right away. Their seed caching may also help spread tree seeds.
## Built light, built agile
An adult is a medium-sized tree squirrel. It measures 380 to 525 mm in total length, with a tail of 150 to 250 mm. Its mass runs from 338 to 750 g, and the average is about 540 g. Adult size comes at 9 months old.
AnAge, a longevity database, lists 23.6 years in captivity as the maximum, though it rates the sample size as small.
Predators include bobcats, coyotes and red-tailed hawks. They give warning calls, and their agility in the trees makes them hard to catch. They nest in a ball of leaves and twigs, or a tree den, and do not hibernate.
## What's on the menu
Nuts lead the menu, along with flowers and buds, from more than 24 oak species, 10 hickory species, and pecan, walnut and beech trees. The menu also includes fungi, insects in summer, and sometimes bird eggs and nestlings. The museum calls squirrels opportunistic feeders.
## From Carolina to Britain
Its native home stretches across the eastern United States, a little beyond the Mississippi to the west, and up into Canada. Dark, melanistic squirrels are common in the north of that range. The species has also been introduced to Italy, Scotland, England and Ireland.
In the UK, the Wildlife Trusts estimate about 2.5 million grey squirrels against around 140,000 red squirrels. Greys were introduced from North America, possibly as early as the 1870s, and are now far more common in most areas. They win a bigger share of the food than reds, steal from their caches and can carry squirrelpox virus, which greys resist but which can infect and kill reds. The museum says they have displaced the native red squirrel in the UK and parts of Europe.
## Frequently Asked Questions
### How big is an eastern gray squirrel?
Nose to tail tip, an adult is 380 to 525 mm long, and it weighs between 338 and 750 g. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web]())*
### How long do gray squirrels live?
The record in AnAge is 23.6 years, set by a squirrel in captivity, and the database marks the sample behind it as small. *(Source: [Human Ageing Genomic Resources, AnAge]())*
### Why do gray squirrels bury nuts in so many places?
Rather than keeping one larder, they scatter food across a wide area. According to the Natural History Museum, the thinking is that this limits how much of the winter supply is lost when another squirrel raids a cache. *(Source: [Natural History Museum, London]())*
### Why are there so few red squirrels in Britain?
Grey squirrels were brought to the UK from North America, possibly from the 1870s. The museum lists three ways they hurt reds: they eat more of the shared food, they raid red squirrels' stores, and they can pass on squirrelpox, a virus that can kill reds while greys resist it. *(Source: [Natural History Museum, London]())*
## Sources
1. [Sciurus carolinensis. Animal Diversity Web.]()
2. [AnAge entry for Sciurus carolinensis. Human Ageing Genomic Resources, AnAge.]()
3. [Squirrels in the UK: What they're up to, when and why. Natural History Museum, London.]()
4. [Cassola (2018). Sciurus carolinensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T42462A276917738.]()
*Published October 11, 2026. Last updated October 11, 2026.*
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