Gray Squirrel
Weight: approx. 1 lb
Mating Habits: Squirrels are polygynandrous (i.e., both males and females mate with multiple partners). Once mated, the female takes on responsibility for parental care of the offspring. Typical!
Diet: omnivorous (walnuts, acorns, and other kinds of nuts, tree bark, and seeds, plus insects, caterpillars, and young birds)
Litter Size: 2-8 kits
Did You Know: Baby squirrels urinate and defecate in their mother’s mouth so that the mothers can dispose of the waste outside the nest, in order to keep predators from smelling the scent. Suffice it to say, never kiss a squirrel!
Most Dangerous County Critters
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dave/Fotolia
White-Tailed Deer
Weight: 110-300 lbs
Mating Habits: In the height of mating season (November), bucks become obsessed with finding a doe, day or night, and will seldom stop to eat or sleep.
Diet: herbivorous (leaves, twigs, fruits and nuts, grass, corn, alfalfa, and lichens and other fungi)
Litter Size: 1-3 fawns
Did You Know: White-tailed deer are good swimmers and use large streams and lakes to escape predators.*
*Info from Travis Brady, director of strategic initiatives, Greenburgh Nature Center
Coyote
Weight: 20-50 lbs
Mating Habits: Coyotes mate for life and are faithful to their partners — just like in Hollywood, right?
Diet: omnivorous (rabbits, rodents, fish, frogs, deer, insects, snakes, fruit, grass, and carrion; on occasion lambs, calves, or other livestock, as well as small pets)
Litter Size: 2-8 pups
Did You Know: Coyotes often cover residual scraps of kills and bury their excrement to hide their scent, so they could be living under your porch, and you might not even know!
Former Neighbors
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Fisher
Rare find!
Weight: 8-12 lbs
Diet: omnivorous (rabbits, rodents, birds, insects, nuts, berries, and one of the few predators of porcupines — rumor has it they also like extra-crunchy peanut butter)
Litter Size: 1-4 kits
Did You Know: Despite the name, this member of the weasel family doesn’t eat fish.
Black Bear
Rare find!
Weight: 150-300 lbs (exceptionally large males can reach 500+ lbs)
Diet: omnivorous (plants, fruits, nuts, insects, honey, salmon, small mammals, carrion, and occasionally young deer)
Litter Size: 1-6 cubs (2 is most common)
Did You Know: County black bear sightings have occurred in the past year in Armonk, Pound Ridge, Bedford, and Cortlandt Manor.