![\"WEST](\"http:\/\/www.socalwild.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/GraySquirrel_EasternSquirrel.jpg\")
<\/a>As a biological sciences professor at Cal State LA, Muchlinski took on the task of discovering how this non-native species was affecting SoCal\u2019s resident Western gray, a critter that hasn\u2019t been under the microscope much. It\u2019s a squirrel, after all, a taken-for-granted species that doesn\u2019t have the powerful draw of a mountain lion or big-horned sheep.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo many people would say, \u2018What\u2019s the big deal? One species replacing another? What does it matter?\u2019 But the reality is introduced species cause problems with the natives and affect the ecosystem,\u201d he says. \u201cWe just don\u2019t know what the complete consequences are.\u201d<\/p>\n
The frisky Easties found passage to Los Angeles around 1904 to the Veteran\u2019s Hospital in West LA where they were \u201cpets\u201d to residents. At first, no one seemed to mind when a few escaped into the \u2018wild\u2019, but then damage to local fruit and nut trees became apparent and the pets quickly turned into pests.<\/p>\n
Henry Huntington also put out the call to import Easties into his nascent San Marino Gardens for atmosphere flavor (unfortunately, they were DOA on the local train).<\/p>\n
Through the years, Muchlinski has been a faculty advisor to many grad students wanting to uncover more details about Squirrels in Our Midst.<\/p>\n
In 2004, graduate student Julie King, tracking Easties distribution patterns in SoCal, discovered many folks were trapping and dumping them in other locations thus exacerbating the bigger problem. Easties followed human development and slowly made their way along SoCal lowlands, setting up shop while grays in their pathway, quietly retreated into pocket populations.<\/p>\n
Even with a few studies on the grays, it\u2019s apparent their numbers are decreasing.<\/p>\n
Today, Muchlinski is faculty advisor to another grad student, Chris DeMarco who has been immersed in the squirrel world for three years; his thesis project involves collecting and interpreting genetic samplings of gray populations. He\u2019s targeted populations in the Santa Monica Mountains, Griffith Park and Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens. Within those areas \u2013 especially Griffith Park \u2013 grays have become isolated into smaller subgroups.<\/p>\n \u201cGray squirrels are also an indicator species of how well a natural oak\/conifer habitat is doing,\u201d says DeMarco walking through Griffith\u2019s Ferndell. The fluffy mammal also plants trees (hiding\/forgetting nuts and through their feces); they also eat a particular fungus that, when dispersed through their feces, allows oak and pine tree roots to better absorb water.<\/p>\n Ferndell is just one Griffith Park area on DeMarco\u2019s radar. Grays have been found in Boy\u2019s Camp, Vermont Canyon and the Roosevelt Golf Course. He enlists help from citizen scientists who record observations via I Naturalist<\/a> to find squirrels for his studies.<\/p>\n DeMarco collects genetic material from strategically placed \u201chair tubes\u201d that are stuffed with walnuts and other squirrel delights.<\/p>\n When the critter enters to enjoy an easy meal, some of its hair brushes up against sticky tape inside the tube and is left in the tube. These hair follicles contain DNA which DeMarco uses to chart lineage of the grays, estimating how genetically diverse these populations are and if there is any genetic flow between populations.<\/p>\n Comparing gray maternal genetic profiles in Griffith Park, DeMarco is discovering disturbing trends \u2013 basically, gray squirrels\u2019 genetic makeup is similar because they are inbreeding.\u00a0 Even though squirrels are known for their acrobatics and wire walking abilities, the grays find it difficult to branch out beyond their original homes. Traffic and human development keep them stuck. Besides isolation, grays are up against other factors: poisons, roadkill, destructive fires and competition with the Easties.<\/p>\n \u201cStudies have shown it\u2019s possible for grays and Eastern fox squirrels to coexist,\u201d says DeMarco explaining that in areas with a wide diversity of tree species \u2013 like Ferndell \u2013 there is a higher proportion of Western grays. \u201cThere could be a way to sustain these two species if there were more pine, walnuts and sycamore trees in the area, trees the grays like. Here in Ferndell, grays and Eastern fox squirrels seem to coexist for the most part.\u201d<\/p>\n But the question is for how long? Muchlinski isn\u2019t sure, but he does know that if the Easties move into SoCal\u2019s forested areas \u2013 Big Bear, Mt. Wilson \u2013 that could be catastrophic for SoCal grays. \u201cIt helps if people understand that it\u2019s not good to move non-native animals around,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n All in all, Griffith Park is snapshot of SoCal squirrel-ness. \u201cBy seeing what is happening here, we can start to target and suggest ways to circumvent any potential extinctions of one of the sub populations,\u201d says DeMarco. \u201cIf populations become so isolated and are in a dire downward spiral, it may mean special action.\u201d Conservation possibilities: adding more gray-friendly trees, introducing grays from other areas into that population to beef up the gene pool, and create corridors for squirrels to scamper in and out of isolated habitats.<\/p>\n When his research wraps up next year, DeMarco will share it with local agencies like LA Park and Rec, National Park Service, etc. \u201cGenetic studies have been done on the gray squirrel in Washington and Oregon but not here,\u201d he says. \u201cWe, California, need to catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n There’s a turf battle going on in Southern California. One local, one imported. One, a big fluffy-tailed specialist with a penchant for pine trees and tree nuts that used to rule the roost in SoCal. The other, a red-furred sleek generalist from the East Coast, a fast procreator with an appetite for everything. To call this a mismatch would be an understatement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[17,16],"class_list":["post-533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-socal-wild","tag-southern-california","tag-squirrel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brendarees.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brendarees.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brendarees.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brendarees.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brendarees.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=533"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.brendarees.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":745,"href":"https:\/\/www.brendarees.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/533\/revisions\/745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brendarees.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brendarees.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brendarees.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>