Grey squirrels help forests
Posted by JessFoxx on Wed 26 Nov 2003 - 10:46
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Grey squirrels' faulty memories turn out to be good for forests, but the nut-hoarding habits of their red cousins are not, U.S. scientists say.
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The "red squirrels" in question here are Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, a.k.a. pine squirrels. These are not the same as the red squirrels of Europe, Sciurus vulgaris--the species that is itself being wiped out in Britain by the introduced American greys (Sciurus carolinensis), ironically enough.
Incidentally, we fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) are of the same 'conveniently forgetful' persuasion as greys, but nobody seems to know nigers exist despite our abundance as natives in Eastern and Central North America.
By the way: we don't have faulty memories, it's called symbiosis! Sheesh.
--random fox squirrel
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