Delmarva Peninsula Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger cinereus)
Description A large tree squirrel. Gray above, whitish below. Large, bushy tail with black stripe on edges. L 21 1/2–23 1/2" (560–600 mm); T 10 1/2–11 1/4" (260–285 mm); HF 2 7/8–3 1/8" (73–81 mm).
Endangered Status The Delmarva Peninsula Fox Squirrel, a subspecies of the Eastern Fox Squirrel, is on the U.S.
Endangered Species List. It is classified as endangered in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. This squirrel once ranged throughout the Delmarva Peninsula. Naturally occurring populations are now found only in parts of Queen Anne's, Talbot, and Dorchester Counties in Maryland, although introduced populations occur elsewhere in Maryland, as well as Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. This subspecies requires a particular type of mixed hardwood and pine woodland, with a closed canopy and an open understory. It needs extensive forest-edge habitat, so the woodland must be fairly small in extent. Logging practices have altered this type of habitat in the fox squirrel's range, either by changing the nature of the canopy or the understory, or by replacing mixed stands with same-species plantings. Once the Delmarva Peninsula Fox Squirrel loses its own habitat, it must compete with the Gray Squirrel for food and nesting habitat.
Habitat Edges of mixed pine-hardwood forests.
Range Delmarva Peninsula, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.
