the.com/gray squirrel
A tree rat with a PR team, now colonizing Europe one bird feeder at a time.
means A bushy-tailed tree squirrel native to eastern North America, now invasively established across parts of Europe, where it outcompetes native red squirrels.
from Straightforward in English — 'gray' describing its coat, 'squirrel' tracing back through Old French 'esquireul' to Latin 'sciurus,' itself borrowed from Greek 'skiouros,' literally 'shadow-tail' (skia 'shadow' + oura 'tail'), a nod to the animal sitting in the shade of its own bushy tail. The species name Sciurus carolinensis nods to its native range in the Carolinas; its spread to Britain in the 19th–20th centuries, via deliberate releases by estate owners enchanted with the novelty, is the part of the story with real teeth — ecologically speaking.
- origin
- native to eastern North America, not actually gray-brained
- memory trick
- forgets most buried nuts, accidentally plants forests
- invasive reputation
- outcompeted Britain's red squirrels into near extinction
- acrobatics
- can rotate ankles 180 degrees to climb headfirst down trees