Delmarva Peninsula Fox Squirrel
Sciurus
niger cinereus
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.
