When I grew up in Worland, we had no squirrels in the town. I know there were squirrels in Thermopolis, as we’d see them when we went to the state park. I also think there were squirrels in Basin and Greybull, I believe because I saw them, but my memory is fuzzy about this.

Well, they’re in Worland now, and they’re interesting little animals. As I think any of you who have observed squirrels could attest, they are active, clever, and incredibly athletic creatures. Three or four years ago, I started noting a squirrel here and there around our home. The sightings were unusual enough that I wondered whether I was seeing the same animal. But in the last year or two, sightings have become frequent. Sometimes I’ve seen two or three together. From my research I’ve learned that these squirrels, which are “fox squirrels,” are usually solitary and that groups of them usually mean, ahem, sexual activity.

When I first decided to write a column about Worland’s squirrels, I did some online research and discovered that most squirrels in America are, generally speaking, of three species: the grey squirrel, red squirrel and the fox squirrel. The red squirrel is a creature that inhabits pine forests; he’s that cute little fellow you see when you have a picnic at Meadowlark Lake. The grey and fox squirrels are larger than the red squirrel and inhabit areas with deciduous trees. At first I thought our squirrels were grey squirrels, but then I learned from Bart Kroger that they are fox squirrels.

Fox squirrels, the largest squirrel in North America, are not indigenous to this part of the country, but rather, are native to the eastern United States and Canada. Those are areas with great swaths of deciduous forests; the trees of the eastern half of North America constitute the largest deciduous forest in the world. Fox squirrels have, however, been introduced to the western United States, including Idaho and Montana, which may explain how they came to be in Wyoming.

I can see why the towns in northern Wyoming would attract fox squirrels, as towns constitute de facto deciduous forests; we’ve noticed that our squirrels seem particularly attracted to the walnuts from our eastern American walnut tree. Also, the presence of human beings in towns discourages some predators of squirrels. But cats and dogs reside in towns, and are surely the primary threats to wild squirrels. Dogs, though, are not usually allowed to roam the streets. Too, I think it would be rare for a dog to catch a squirrel. A few years ago, we owned a female yellow Labrador, and we would take her to our place in the Big Horn Mountains, land jointly owned with friends. Our dog would be around the campsite and would avidly watch the red squirrels hopping around the pine trees and our pine fences. Soon the dog couldn’t stand it and would go screaming after a squirrel. The dog was athletic, but she never had a chance; she never got close to a squirrel. But what about cats?

Cats are not usually confined; after a new snow I always see the tracks of several cats working through our property. I’ve worried that they might catch a squirrel, and I suppose they do now and again, but I’ve decided that would be rare, because fat, domestic cats just can’t compete with a squirrel athletically. One Wikipedia article observed: “They [fox squirrels] are impressive jumpers, easily spanning 15 feet in horizontal leaps and free-falling 20 feet or more to a soft landing on a limb or trunk.”

The big question I have is how did these fox squirrels get here in the first place? One possible way is that a population of introduced squirrels in Idaho or Montana worked its way into the area, spreading by way of the Big Horn River riparian area. The problem with that theory is that Worland would not have been overlooked in a dispersal from Basin to Thermopolis or from Thermopolis to Basin. So, another possibility is that the squirrels in the towns around Worland were introduced directly. That might make sense with regard to Thermop, the home of the Hot Springs State Park, but why would Basin or Greybull have the same kind of squirrel?

If any of my readers know more about the squirrel situation, I’d appreciate it if you would email me at [email protected].

John Davis was raised in Worland, graduating from W. H. S. in 1961. John began practicing law here in 1973 and is retired. He is the author of several books.