There’s been an unprecedented surge in the Red and Gray Squirrel populations in New England this summer and fall, according to the September 25 edition pf the Boston Globe. Here’s one of our a locale Reds eating a conifer cone recently:
That population surge, unfortunately, translates into a record number of squirrel road kills. A Maine Wildlife Department official is quoted as receiving a report of 320 dead squirrels being counted one morning between Freeport and Bangor on the Maine Turnpike. A New Hampshire resident also was quoted as counting at least 100 squirrel carcasses along a short stretch of Route 125. Here’s a Gray that has survived so far:
It’s believed that last year’s extraordinarily large acorn crop in New England is the cause of the squirrel surge this year. There also has been a bountiful conifer cone crop. (Brooklin, Maine)