2021.34.3

Douglas, Michigan

Commercial Record, October 19, 1906 "C. E. Bird is planning to get some squirrels for the school yard. In a good many cities and villages squirrels have nests in the trees and are protected. " Commercial Record, May 19, 1907 "A squirrel has built her nest in the Floto cottage and was there happy caring for her family of 3 little ones till she had too many visitors and 2 of the young died. She took the other one away. " Squirrels in the area today are so numerous that many consider them a health hazard and a nuisance. These paragraphs describe a time when they had been so seriously hunted that steps were taken to import them so children might watch their antics as they cavorted around the school yard. There has always been at least two large species of squirrels in the area, the Fox Squirrel with reddish-gray fur and the black phase of the Gray Squirrel. As recently as 20 years ago the Fox Squirrel was dominant, but as trees in the villages grow to forest size the more aggressive Gray Squirrel is beginning to outnumber its slightly larger cousin.

PostcardsNature, ecology, the landscape

Henning, Caleb

07/23/2021

11/18/2023