# Anybody know of a place in Georgia where fox squirrels outnumber gray squirrels?



## MarkGelbart (Jun 27, 2011)

I noticed on another thread here on fox squirrels that someone said there are plenty in the Elbert County WMA.

But do they outnumber gray squirrels there or anywhere in state?

I've lived in Richmond and Columbia Counties for 35 years...I've never seen a fox squirrel in either county.  I did see 1 fox squirrel in Burke County.

When I was a kid, I lived in northeastern Ohio.  Big orange fox squirrels were the only kind of diurnal tree squirrel living in our backyard.

I'm interested in finding out where in Georgia fox squirrels really occur because the subject of my next blog entry is about animals that live in longleaf pine savannahs, and fox squirrels are one of the species that used to be common. I don't trust the official range maps--no survey of fox squirrel range in Georgia has been conducted within the last 50 years.   I write a blog about Georgia's natural history entitled "Georgia Before People." ( http://markgelbart.wordpress.com )

Just imagine what hunting in Georgia would've been like say 36,000 BP colonized the region.  None of the animals learned to fear people...it would probably be more like a slaughter.  But if your equipment failed, the tables would be turned.


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## simpleman30 (Jun 27, 2011)

Fort Stewart


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## fishfryer (Jun 27, 2011)

MarkGelbart said:


> I noticed on another thread here on fox squirrels that someone said there are plenty in the Elbert County WMA.
> 
> But do they outnumber gray squirrels there or anywhere in state?
> 
> ...



Thanks for your interest in Georgia's flora and fauna. I love all of it myself,but have not done the research that you obviously have. I used to really love to hunt squirrels,and really revere the Fox Squirrel that is native here. My comment would be that Fox Squirrels like a somewhat open mix of hardwood and pine forests. I've seen them in several middle and south Ga. counties over the years,but never any thing like a majority over greys. Fox Squirrels are in my opinion,more "innocent",or less sophisticated,they are easier to kill than Greys. You seem to find more in large tracts of land away from heavy concentrations of .22 rifles. The beauty of the animal's fur is also detimental to his longevity,they are as beautiful as song birds to me,and taxidermists get a lot of work out of them. Look for large tracts of longleaf pines,interspersed with oaks and hickories,Mr. Mask will be somewhere around.


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## Vernon Holt (Jun 27, 2011)

MarkGelbart said:


> I noticed on another thread here on fox squirrels that someone said there are plenty in the Elbert County WMA.
> 
> But do they outnumber gray squirrels there or anywhere in state?
> 
> ...


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## Jody Hawk (Jun 27, 2011)

No where in Georgia will you find fox squirrels more abundant than gray squirrels imo. Speaking of fox squirrels, I saw a pretty solid black one here above the house yesterday!


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## Lukikus2 (Jun 27, 2011)

Where I hunted in Alabama we had fox squirrels but they were greatly outnumbered by the grays. I don't think I knew of a pine tree in 20,000 acres surrounding the area but there were creeks. Wherever there was water the fox squirrels would be close by.

So my question is: Do fox squirrels always have a water source nearby?

I have never seen any far from any water source like grey squirrels.


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## Cottontail (Jun 27, 2011)

Lukikus i agree iv'e seen only a few but they were always while hunting creek bottoms. So hunting nearby
 a water source is a good point.


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## Jody Hawk (Jun 27, 2011)

Lukikus2 said:


> So my question is: Do fox squirrels always have a water source nearby?
> 
> I have never seen any far from any water source like grey squirrels.



I saw one as I turned down my road a few weeks ago. The closest water is Alcovy River which is a half of a mile away. I've saw them well away from any water source. Something else that I've found odd about fox squirrels, they will leave the safety of the trees to travel across large open areas such as pastures.


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## Melvin4730 (Jun 27, 2011)

They will run on the ground for hundreds of yards, before going up a tree.


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## Chuck Terry (Jun 27, 2011)

The places I have seen an abundance of fox squirrels were more mature and open woods with more pines and less hardwoods.   I've seen lots of them while deer hunting in the fall to early winter.  The majority were grey with black mask.  The occasional red or black was much more rare.  Fox squirrels seem willing to travel greater distances on the ground (even across pastures) where the greys seem to feel more comfortable in the canopy.  Thinner stands of trees near creeks and ponds seem to hold more fox squirrels than greys.


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## Cottontail (Jun 27, 2011)

Never seen any in pastures but like i said i hunt in the woods .


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## CAL (Jun 27, 2011)

In my part of Ga.we have many acres of Pecans and there is where the fox squirrels thrive.On some property I manage there is seldom a day goes by without seeing at least one there.In the fall when the nuts are ready to fall there are more than I can count.


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## rabbit hunter (Jun 27, 2011)

Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee...lol
Its nothing to see 6 or 8 just riding through there.


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## Nicodemus (Jun 27, 2011)

Take a ride through the Parks At Chehaw, in Albany. It has a good population of em.


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## 5 string (Jun 27, 2011)

not in north west ga!   we have some but they are far and few between.


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## MarkGelbart (Jun 28, 2011)

Vernon Holt said:


> MarkGelbart said:
> 
> 
> > I do not know why Ecologists associate the Longleaf Pine with the savannahs of the Southeast when the tree reached it best development on flatwoods that were typically drier than savannahs. Ecologists seem to associate Longleaf exclusively with Wiregrass, when in reality the finer stands of Longleaf were found with a mix of Palmetto, Gallberry, and Wiregrass.
> ...


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## burkehunter (Jun 28, 2011)

I haven't seen one in richmond or columbia either but have seen a few in burke.


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## Darien1 (Jun 28, 2011)

The campus at Coastal Georgia Community College in Brunswick used to have an abundance of them.  Some were tame and would come up to you and take nuts from your hand.  I don't ever recall seeing a grey squirrel around there but I'm sure there must have been.  There's a lot of construction on campus now so I don't know what the situation is with squirrels there now.  My Dad and I used to kill them quite regularly in the pecan orchards around Alapaha. Georgia.  I've seen several on my club in Washington County and at Paulk's pasture WMA in Glynn County.


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## Ta-ton-ka chips (Jul 7, 2011)

MarkGelbart said:


> Vernon Holt said:
> 
> 
> > There are different kinds of longleaf pine savannahs.  Some are wet pine savannahs, some are dry pine savannahs, and others are considered intermediate pine savannahs.  Longleaf pine grows in association with wire grass in dry and intermediate pine savannahs.  In moist pine savannahs longleaf pine grows in association with slash pine, Sphagnum, gallberry, pitcher plants, and others.
> ...


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## seaweaver (Jul 13, 2011)

After reading Mr Gilberts blogs I have determined he is a statist.

I fear what damage a blog of his would do to the hunting of small game.

 You fellows who do not get down to the politics threads really should before you open up to this man as he has been trolling there w/ his big government ideas.  

I can say for sure his interests in squirrels are NOT the same as yours.

cw


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## HoCoLion91 (Jul 13, 2011)

Not to change the subject,  but has anyone ever hunted fox squirrels.  I have hunted and killed almost every species legally in Alabama but have never had the urge to kill a fox squirrel.  I just like watching them.  Most will let you get close before running away.


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## Jody Hawk (Jul 13, 2011)

HoCoLion91 said:


> Not to change the subject,  but has anyone ever hunted fox squirrels.  I have hunted and killed almost every species legally in Alabama but have never had the urge to kill a fox squirrel.  I just like watching them.  Most will let you get close before running away.



I'm with you! I'd rather watch them than kill them. There's not that many of them and they can't be that good to eat. I've shot two to get mounted back in my early 20s but now I'd rather just watch them.


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## Jeremiah Glaze (Jul 13, 2011)

There seems to be plent of them around madison, newborn ga area ....lot of pines!! I worked a quail plantation near burnt pine 5 or 6 years ago an killed 4 or 5 of themover several years time an let a lot more go an had a friend that killed a big pretty one there also...saw them constantly riding the roads in the area as well .an I was riding throught newborn the other day an saw a pretty gray one with black head.. I only saw one red one ever...only a couple blacks with white noses(one is on my wall) an most were gray with black heads ( have a real big one on the wall).


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## olcowman (Jul 13, 2011)

There are some scattered pockets around Meriwether county that seem to have a really good population of fox squirrels. I know of a couple of spots down in the cove along the Flint in some older hardwood/pine mix stands. Back in the 90's we still lived on the farm over in Woodbury and fox sqirrels were pretty thick at times along the higher elevations in the pines seperating the pastures and hayfields. That was about as thick as I ever saw them and it seemed, in my opinion anyhow, that the fox and gray's territories may have overlapped a little at times, but I always felt like they were segregated for the most part. It was obvious when the pecans matured and the gray squirrels that had spent the entire summer in the orchards suddenly disappeared... and the big fox squirrels off the mountain took over the hood for a couple of months...

We had some solid black with white faces that stayed around the house there for several years. They would have made a beautiful mount but my wife wasn't too crazy about me killing them? Thus I have never killed any myself... do they taste like a gray squirrel or not?


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## Nicodemus (Jul 13, 2011)

They taste just like a cat squirrel. I`ve killed 3 in my life, and won`t shoot another one. I see em purty regular at one of my haunts, and at another, they really do outnumber cat squirrels, and I see em every time I go out. I enjoy watchin` em.


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## Jester896 (Jul 13, 2011)

i have only taken 3 or 4 in my life and seen some others have taken.. and of those it seemed some of the males were missing some of the parts to make more of them...anybody else see this


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## jamo76 (Jul 14, 2011)

Golf Course


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## Lukikus2 (Jul 14, 2011)

I've never killed a fox squirrel or eaten them either. I did lose 2 of 3 broadheads because of them. I couldn't dig two of them out of the trees

What is a cat squirrel Nic?


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## Nicodemus (Jul 14, 2011)

Lukikus2 said:


> I've never killed a fox squirrel or eaten them either. I did lose 2 of 3 broadheads because of them. I couldn't dig two of them out of the trees
> 
> What is a cat squirrel Nic?





Oh, sorry, that`s what we call a gray squirrel.


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## mlandrum (Jul 15, 2011)

Back in the 60's we'd kill a few each rabbit season, but we just run up on them accidentally , compared to rabbit they were really tough to eat!!!!  that was in Screven County    Living down in the deep south now for 34 years , the Colllege is the only place I Consisently see them also.


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