13 September 2013

Chiricahua, AZ squirrel ID

These are from June, 2010. Reading Richard Webb’s excellent trip report reminded me I had never decided what they were. The first was all over the place at the SW research station and was maybe 20% larger than Eastern Gray. The second was at a campground down the road from the station and was maybe 80% larger than Eastern Gray.

In my defense, the BCI trip leader called the first one an “Apache Squirrel”, which threw me off. And I didn’t have much experience in the area at the time.

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Thx, John

 

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6 Comments

  • 13 September 2013
    Jon Hall

    John. I think the first is a Rock Squirrel. The second is probably a Mexican (Apache) Fox Squirrel. Was the tail fluffier than it looks in your picture?

    Jon

    • 13 September 2013
      John Fox

      Thanks, Jon, I grabbed the camera rather than the bins and a Red-tailed Hawk went after it a second later so that’s the only pic.

      I’ll wait to see what anyone else thinks, we have that part of the world pretty well covered, eh? It’s kind of neat that Webb came to the US for a mammal trip, up until a few years ago “mammals” meant Africa or Australia to me.

  • 13 September 2013
    Mike Richardson

    I would say the first is a Rock Squirrel. I’m not so sure about the second. I initially thought it was also a Rock Squirrel (albeit one that looks like an Apache Fox Squirrel) but now I’m not so sure.

  • 13 September 2013
    Vladimir Dinets

    Frankly, they both look like rock squirrels to me. The second one has too much spotting for S. nayaritensis, the tail is not long enough, and the posture is typical of a rock sq.

  • 14 September 2013
    sflamand

    I would agree with Vladimir. I think they are both Rock Squirrels.

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