They are everywhere in town. Admired for their acrobatic talents, they are also hated for the devastation they cause in plantations, in particular. Perfectly adapted to the urban environment, gray squirrels have proliferated to such an extent that one wonders if they are not too numerous in town. Portrait of a small mammal that some consider to be just a “fancy dressed rat”.
The gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) — whose coat has a few variants ranging from black to creamy white — is the only squirrel to like in town. Its cousin, the red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), prefers the forest environment, but, above all, its behavior does not lend itself well to urban life.
“The red squirrel loves coniferous environments, and cities don’t plant a lot of them,” explains Denis Réale, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at UQAM who has devoted several studies to the eastern chipmunk, but who knows his rambunctious cousin, the gray squirrel. “Red squirrels are very territorial and will defend their territory very aggressively. »
On the other hand, the gray squirrel, very opportunistic, adapts well to the presence of its congeners and that of humans. “In the parks, they can reach 50 individuals per hectare, which is huge. […] And they benefit from an important food resource. »
And the gray squirrel is very clever. In 2021, an American YouTuber and engineer, Mark Rober, posted a video in which he shows an obstacle course he built in his backyard to test the dexterity of gray squirrels after they had foiled all his attempts to prevent them from stealing the food from the bird feeders. We see that the squirrels have quickly learned to overcome the difficulties of the course to reach their reward: an appetizing supply of nuts.
Thousands of squirrels
Are there too many squirrels in Montreal? “It’s hard to know what a surplus is,” admits Denis Réale. “There aren’t really any local statistics. In fact, there are few studies on this species. »
Patrick Durocher believes that there are too many squirrels in Montreal. Owner of Urban Déprédateur, a Montreal company specializing in the management of pests, he indicates that the gray squirrel is the urban animal that is the subject of the greatest number of interventions by his company each year. “And they will continue to proliferate,” he says.
In parks, they can reach 50 individuals per hectare, which is huge.
You should know that each female can have two litters per year and that she generally gives birth to between four and six young. On average, only two reach adulthood, explains Patrick Durocher.
However, he does not believe that their population should be reduced. According to him, eliminating individuals will simply have the effect of increasing the number of young capable of reaching adulthood. “It would have to be very intense as an elimination. »
Generally, his company intervenes because a squirrel has taken refuge in the attic of the residences. According to him, the limited number of tall trees in the city and the high winds make it hazardous to build their nest, made up of a pile of leaves, which is why squirrels find refuge in residences.
Patrick Durocher does not recommend relocating squirrels either, and he does so very rarely. “As soon as you remove one, it’s like an endless screw, it’s replaced by another,” he says. And if they have to be captured and relocated, not only do we move the problem elsewhere, but the bill quickly climbs for the customer, he argues.
Problematic behavior
The fact remains that squirrels are responsible for a lot of damage, which attracts the wrath of citizens, especially gardeners. Some pranksters won’t just crunch tomatoes or dig up flower bulbs, but will go so far as to trash garden furniture, destroy bike benches, puncture compost bins and gnaw on wires. “I don’t think it’s all the squirrels that will cause big damage,” says Denis Réale. “We have a great variability in behavior. I think some are problem individuals, probably because of their personalities and their ability to take risks. »
Patrick Durocher agrees. According to him, the best solution to consider is to make sure to keep them away and not to feed them.
Among the worst cases of damage he has seen, he cites that of a house in Laval where squirrels had gnawed through all the wires in the attic, causing $15,000 in damage. In another case, a squirrel destroyed all the wiring inside a car twice.
Why do squirrels attack wires? On the one hand, because they are rodents, but some, including Patrick Durocher, suspect that a product present in the plastic covering the wires attracts them.
In this regard, the American Public Power Association claims that squirrels are among the leading causes of power outages in the United States. In June 2018, a squirrel had also been the source of a major computer failure at the McGill University Health Center (MUHC).
In 2021, exasperated citizens launched a petition for the City of Montreal to control the squirrel population. Denis Réale doubts that such an operation is really useful and that its costs are justifiable. As for using contraception, it would be necessary to ensure that only squirrels have access to food containing the contraceptive and this option could be very expensive, especially since it would have to be repeated every year, he points out.
However, this is a strategy considered by the United Kingdom, where the gray squirrel, native to North America, was introduced in the 19th century.e century. It has thrived there to become a serious threat to the European red squirrel. There are now 2.7 million gray squirrels in the UK, where it causes significant damage to trees by stripping their bark, which it is less used to doing in North America, notes Denis Real. Other European countries, including Italy, are also struggling with this species considered invasive.