They typically have grayish-brown fur and a whitish belly with a conspicuously bushy tail; however, some individuals can range in color from yellowish-gray to silvery gray depending on the time of year. Though less common, some squirrels may be reddish, black, or white, or some combination of these colors. Eastern gray squirrels forage for nuts, seeds, buds, and flowers of trees. astern gray squirrels have an excellent sense of smell, which they use to help locate food that they’ve hidden away. They can also pick up information about their fellow squirrels by smelling them. They communicate with each other by making sounds and body movements, such as tail flicking.

Gray squirrels are common in rural, suburban, and urban woodlots. Their populations are regulated by availability of suitable habitat and abundance of tree nuts. In a year when acorns and other nuts are plentiful, numerous squirrels will survive the winter and females will produce larger litters. But when food is in short supply, squirrels that survive the winter often produce fewer young. Gray squirrels inhabit numerous forest types, although they are most abundant in hardwood forests containing a variety of mast-producing trees. The trees most commonly used by gray squirrels are white oak, American beech, American elm, red maple and sweet gum. Gray squirrels will use old woodpecker holes or natural tree cavities as dens to live in and raise young.