Fox squirrels can be found in pockets around Aiken County, but when Charlene and Ron Elkins saw one a few years ago, they had no idea what they were looking at. Charlene, Ron and his son were walking in the Cedar Creek area near an abandoned silo when they spotted an odd looking animal sunning itself. Charlene said Thursday the animal appeared to be a cross between a mouse, a fox and a squirrel. Ron's son was able to snap a picture. "The ears look like a mouse," Charlene said. "I knew it was big," Ron said. "It was bigger than a house cat, for sure. It was really unusual. I haven't seen it since." Fox squirrels can be found throughout the eastern U.S. and are larger versions of the gray squirrel, which most people are familiar with. "They are twice as big as gray squirrels," said Whit Gibbons, an ecologist with the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. "Their coloring is extremely variable." A fox squirrel's fur can be black, red, gray or even white and typically have what looks like a "mask" of color around its face, said USC Aiken Biology Professor Dr. Harry Shealy. While there is an albino population of gray squirrels in this area, most of them are, of course, gray. Shealy said he frequently spots fox squirrels in Hitchcock Woods. "They can be found in well-managed, long-leaf pine forests," he added. "When we started doing control burns in Hitchcock, fox squirrels made a phenomenal comeback. More attention should be paid to them because loss of habitat is affecting them." A fox squirrel's diet consists of seeds, nuts and berries. They generally breed in January and June.
Fox squirrel stumps local citizens
