Fox squirrels are in 50 of NC's 100 counties, possibly more

Justin

Old Mossy Horns
If this forum is a sample of the sampling population, I wouldn't trust that data as far as I could throw it. Put up a thread about cougars, hell even a red fox squirrel, or a sunfish.
 

para4514

Eight Pointer
Contributor
Banjo said:
The news and disturber. Bunch of idgets
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Not to defend the newspaper intellect, but they did report accurately. The OP selected title, no so much.

No statement of verification, just that participants reported.
 
lasttombstone

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
There was a link in the article about a Deer Hunters Observation Survey by the NCWRC I wanted to look at but that didn't work. At least not for me.
 

Muzzleodor

Eight Pointer
I see plenty of them in Nash county, not sure if there is a season there or not. I have seen a good picture of one in a friends yard in town in Garner. Also at Pine Burr golf course outside Lillington.
 
JoeSam1975

JoeSam1975

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I am glad it mentioned Wilson County....I have fox squirrels everywhere around the farm. One solid black.
 

tdm

Spike
We have them in Montgomery County in Candor, I think I’ve seen more of them this year than grey squirrels.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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FishHunt

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
I'm curious about how fox squirrels pick their range in central NC. I hunt a lot in Randolph, Moore and Montgomery counties. I see fox squirrels and catch them on cameras a lot along the Hwy 211 corridor in Moore & Montgomery and a short distance north of Hwy 211 seems to be the line where their range stops. Two places that I hunt are according to Google maps 5.31 miles apart in a straight line. On the most northern farm I have never saw or caught a fox squirrel on camera on the southern farm it is a weekly occurrence to see one and capture one on camera. My family and I have been hunting on these two farms for 20+ years and agree with my findings. The terrain, flora and fauna are the same at both locations but fox squirrels at the northern farm. I've never saw one or heard of one being saw or killed in Randolph county.

<>< Fish
 
nccatfisher

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
FishHunt said:
I'm curious about how fox squirrels pick their range in central NC. I hunt a lot in Randolph, Moore and Montgomery counties. I see fox squirrels and catch them on cameras a lot along the Hwy 211 corridor in Moore & Montgomery and a short distance north of Hwy 211 seems to be the line where their range stops. Two places that I hunt are according to Google maps 5.31 miles apart in a straight line. On the most northern farm I have never saw or caught a fox squirrel on camera on the southern farm it is a weekly occurrence to see one and capture one on camera. My family and I have been hunting on these two farms for 20+ years and agree with my findings. The terrain, flora and fauna are the same at both locations but fox squirrels at the northern farm. I've never saw one or heard of one being saw or killed in Randolph county.

<>< Fish
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They are kinda illusive. I know where a colony of them are up here that they are isolated to about 20 acres and they have been there for at least 10 years. They don't really seem to be gaining ground even though they are basically unharmed with no season except for natural predators. I know of a couple that were killed when they were mistaken for grey squirrels but once the word was put out they were there and the landowner realized they were there he only lets people in there that he knows won't harm them.

They are on a mature hardwood ridge that borders a big planted pine plantation. You would think they would either flourish or at least expand. You can find them every time with dogs and tree them consistently and you will run into them and out of them within 200 yards of the same places every time.
 
Part-time hunter

Part-time hunter

Ten Pointer
One of the Rangers around Butner/Falls told me they have them on the gamelands but they are few and far between. I have seen them exactly twice while deer hunting there. One was the section off Purnell Road and the other was around Possum Track. That was quite a while ago too.
 

Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
Part-time hunter said:
One of the Rangers around Butner/Falls told me they have them on the gamelands but they are few and far between. I have seen them exactly twice while deer hunting there. One was the section off Purnell Road and the other was around Possum Track. That was quite a while ago too.
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i know one wildlife officer who found a run over Fox squirrel on Range Rd(south one) near Butner. Also they used to see a few near Sandling Beach...Jordan lake has a bigger population mainly on the east side over to Harris Lake.
 
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Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
FishHunt said:
I'm curious about how fox squirrels pick their range in central NC. I hunt a lot in Randolph, Moore and Montgomery counties. I see fox squirrels and catch them on cameras a lot along the Hwy 211 corridor in Moore & Montgomery and a short distance north of Hwy 211 seems to be the line where their range stops. Two places that I hunt are according to Google maps 5.31 miles apart in a straight line. On the most northern farm I have never saw or caught a fox squirrel on camera on the southern farm it is a weekly occurrence to see one and capture one on camera. My family and I have been hunting on these two farms for 20+ years and agree with my findings. The terrain, flora and fauna are the same at both locations but fox squirrels at the northern farm. I've never saw one or heard of one being saw or killed in Randolph county.

<>< Fish
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Eastern NC Fox Squirrels prefer Mature OPEN Longleaf pines, with adjacent hardwood bottoms but will live in Mature Loblolly's and other habitats as long as there are mature pines, big hardwoods and nesting habitat. They can live in places you would never think like a small patch of pines and a mosaic of habitats. The avg fox squirrel has a 50 acre home range which is many times bigger than the gray squirrel. They will disperse from where they were born up to 30 plus miles so sometimes they end up in an area where seemingly no others are around just because they found the right habitat. Even though Wayne co has pleanty of Fox squirrels in certain places one place that is weird is that a right many live on the grounds of cherry Hospital. they have mature hardwoods, nearby pines and some bottom land on the little river , plus some field edges to forage but it is not what I would consider Fox squirrel habitat.
 
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Mack in N.C.

Old Mossy Horns
Frostcat said:
Do any of the counties in the mountains WNC have fox Squirrels? I have never saw one in Haywood.
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NW nc has right many, Ashe, Avery Watuga Surry and they are expanding into stokes and Rockingham counties along the Virginia Border . expect any day to hear some reports from Caswell as some are just west of there and north of Danville. This is the subspecies found from the top NE corner of TN into NW NC, western Virginia and West Virginia. These ones are usually Reddish with fewer black ones than the ones found farther south or east.

There were a few reports from the very sw corner of NC in the smokies. this would be the subspecies found from western Georgia into Alabama North into middle Tennesee ....looks just like the one in Eastern NC with the Mask on the face but they average just a tad smaller than our eastern one. I will see if I can find the report.

not the report I was looking for but same info...scroll down and you can see where just a handful have been collected there, supposedly a lot better habitat and more of them just over the Border in Tn.

http://www.discoverlife.org/nh/tx/Vertebrata/Mammalia/Sciuridae/Sciurus/niger/

here is a map and you can click on the County and see the report whether it is a roadkill or observation. The ones in SW NC are all just Journal entries from Lee

http://www.dpr.ncparks.gov/mammals/view.php?id=63
 
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CRC

Old Mossy Horns
They have been found in the Swain County portion of the Great Smoky Mountains NP a few times.

Yep just as the link Mack in NC posted.

Also they are now found in Ashe, Alleghany and Wilkes Cos
 
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GAWolf

GAWolf

Ten Pointer
The map has Northampton blank. I’ve watched several fueing turkey season not far from the Roanoke River near Rich Square.
 
Frostcat

Frostcat

Twelve Pointer
I deer hunted in Halifax County last week and saw several fox squirrels. But they do not have a season.
 
Frostcat

Frostcat

Twelve Pointer
We have a guy in the club that only squirrel hunts and said he trees several fox squirrels with his dogs. I would love to be able to hunt them.
 
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