Western Gray Squirrel

Also known as Silver-gray Squirrel, California Gray Squirrel, Oregon Gray Squirrel, Columbian Gray Squirrel

Western gray squirrels navigate the mixed conifer and oak canopies of Pacific coastal forests, utilizing their immense, silver-frosted tails for balance and communication. Unlike non-native competitors, they rely heavily on subterranean fungi and hypogeous mycorrhizal truffles, playing a vital ecological role in forest health through spore dispersal. They construct large, spherical stick nests called dreys high in mature trees, where females rear a single litter of pups each spring.