Washington’s 7,242 eastern gray squirrel records describe an introduced animal living almost entirely where people do. King County holds half of them, with Pierce, Snohomish, Whatcom, and Thurston filling out the Puget Sound corridor, while 668 records from Spokane County mark a second, inland center of establishment.
A city squirrel from back East
Eastern gray squirrels were planted in western towns and cities in the early twentieth century and found the parks, yards, and planted oaks and walnuts of the Puget Sound lowland much to their liking. Washington’s records cluster in exactly that settled greenspace, at places like Dash Point, Saint Edward, Tennant Lake Park, Birch Bay, and Lake Sammamish. Where this squirrel spreads, the native western gray squirrel has generally given ground, and the introduced animal is now the tree squirrel most Washingtonians actually see.
Two busy seasons
Gray squirrels stay active all winter, and Washington reports them in every month. The record peaks twice, in April and May, when spring litters and fresh growth draw the animals into the open, and again in October, when burying acorns and nuts against the cold months keeps them in nearly constant motion on the ground.
Status in Washington
NatureServe flags the eastern gray squirrel as exotic in Washington and assigns it SNA, Not Applicable. Globally the species is G5, secure across its native range in eastern North America.
Full species profile
