The fox squirrel is West Virginia’s other tree squirrel, larger, rustier, and considerably more local than the gray. The state’s 330 records span 30 counties, with Monongalia far ahead at 137 and Preston, Hampshire, Greenbrier, and Ohio counties trailing. Monongahela National Forest and Jackson’s Mill hold the largest named-place totals.
A squirrel of open woods
Where the gray squirrel favors dense, continuous canopy, the fox squirrel prefers the opposite: open, park-like mature woods, scattered big trees along forest edges, and the patchwork of woodlots, pasture, and cropland. It is the largest tree squirrel in North America, and it spends more of its day foraging on the ground than the gray does, ambling between widely spaced trees for acorns, hickory nuts, and corn rather than traveling the branches.
Early spring brings it into view
Reports peak in March and April, when bare branches put even a ground-loving squirrel in plain sight and late-winter breeding chases add to the activity. A smaller rise in October matches the nut-caching season. Through the rest of the year the animal blends into open woods, where a tawny, heavy-bodied squirrel can sit low and still against bark and be passed by unnoticed.
Status in West Virginia
NatureServe ranks the fox squirrel S4, Apparently Secure, in West Virginia, and the species is native to the state. USGS NAS does not list it as nonindigenous here.
