Western Gray Squirrel Volunteer Field Trip and Workshop, 2011
The workshop acquainted returning and new volunteers with the use of non-invasive hair sampling tubes used for confirming locations of western gray squirrels. Volunteers reviewed identification characteristics of western gray squirrels and their habitat.
In the afternoon, we visited an area on the Chewuch River where western gray squirrel hairs were found in last year's sample tubes. As we walked into the area, we found numerous ground caches, some with pine cones still in them. Then we found a perfect example of a western gray squirrel nest. It was a round basketball sized ball of interwoven grass and pine needles 30 feet above the ground in a giant old pine. We set up a hair sampling tube at the site before returning.
The sampling protocol is similar to that of 2010. This year's sampling sites will be located primarily where there were no previous records of western gray squirrels. This year there will also be more emphasis on locating squirrel nests. Another change in procedure is that tubes will remain in place even after hair is recovered in order to determine whether animals are residents or dispersing animals.
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