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Fun Facts
Did You Know?
The field mark that cuts through all the color variation and subspecies confusion is behavioral: fox squirrels walk. Not the frantic start-stop-bolt of a gray squirrel — a deliberate, unhurried walk, like something that has done the risk math on the situation and arrived at "not a problem."
If This Animal Could Talk...
"Watch closely, respect my space, and let my habitat explain the rest of the story."
The Biggest Squirrel in North America Has Three Different Looks in Louisiana, One of Them Is Called the Chucklehead, One of Them Is Sometimes Solid Black, and Half the Internet Has the Third One in the Wrong Part of the State
You've probably seen a fox squirrel and called it a big gray squirrel, which is the correct observation made in the wrong direction. It's not a big gray squirrel. It's a fox squirrel, and it's a different animal operating on different logic — bigger, slower, and significantly less concerned about what you think of its life choices.
A Few More Facts
How they hunt and forage: The gray squirrel in your bird feeder weighs maybe a pound on a good day and treats every second in the open like a personal emergency. Fox squirrels eat acorns, pecans, hickory nuts, pine seeds, corn, fruit, insects, and bird eggs. They forage on the ground more than gray squirrels and will venture a hundred yards or more from the nearest tree to reach food, which takes a confidence that most prey-sized rodents don't attempt and that the fox squirrel's size lets it get away with.
Live birth or eggs? yes
When young are born: See the detailed species sections below.
What Is the Fox Squirrel Often Confused With?
The Biggest Squirrel in North America Has Three Different Looks in Louisiana, One of Them Is Called the Chucklehead, One of Them Is Sometimes Solid Black, and Half the Internet Has the Third One in the Wrong Part of the State You've probably seen a fox squirrel and called it a big gray squirrel, which is the correct observation made in the wrong direction. It's not a big gray squirrel. It's a fox squirrel, and it's a different animal operating on different logic — bigger, slower, and significantly less concerned about what you think of its life choices.
Drag the handle left and right to compare Fox Squirrel side by side with the species it gets mistaken for most.
Open the visual comparison tool
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Accessibility
Accessibility
Fox squirrels are among the more accessible wildlife in North Louisiana because they're big, they're in the open, and they don't disappear when a vehicle shows up. Drive forest roads in the Kisatchie at dawn in October, roll the window down, watch the tree lines at ground level. A chucklehead crossing a gravel road at a walking pace is visible from a distance that most forest wildlife doesn't offer, and it gives you time to actually look at it before it decides to leave. This is fundamentally different from gray squirrel observation, which happens fast and then the animal is gone.
If you're specifically after the Delta Fox Squirrel in bottomland northeast Louisiana, the approach is the same: drive the WMA access roads slowly in early morning, watch the ground level, look for movement that's larger and slower than a gray squirrel. The black individuals can be startling the first time — something the size of a small cat, solid black, moving through bottomland hardwood at a walking pace, not behaving like a bird, not behaving like a raccoon. Once you've identified it, you'll remember the scale.
For visitors who are blind or have low vision: the alarm bark carries further than gray squirrel chatter and reads as a larger-animal sound — slower, lower, from ground level or near it rather than from the canopy. Ground-foraging movement at this animal's size through dry October leaves doesn't move quietly. Three pounds in leaf litter produces a distinctive heavier, slower sound pattern that separates from gray squirrel movement once you've heard both. The bark and the leaf noise together locate the animal before you see it.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does Fox Squirrels live in North Louisiana?
Yes. bachmani, the one with the black head and white nose — is not in North Louisiana. It's the most productive forestry program in North Louisiana and it runs entirely on bluejack acorns as incentive. Fox squirrels are among the more accessible wildlife in North Louisiana because they're big, they're in the open, and they don't disappear when a vehicle shows up
How do you identify Fox Squirrels?
The Biggest Squirrel in North America Has Three Different Looks in Louisiana, One of Them Is Called the Chucklehead, One of Them Is Sometimes Solid Black, and Half the Internet Has the Third One in the Wrong Part of the State You've probably seen a fox squirrel and called it a big gray squirrel, which is the correct observation made in the wrong direction. It's not a big gray squirrel. It's a fox squirrel, and it's a different animal operating on different logic — bigger, slower, and significantly less concerned about what you think of its life choices.
What does Fox Squirrels eat?
The gray squirrel in your bird feeder weighs maybe a pound on a good day and treats every second in the open like a personal emergency. Fox squirrels eat acorns, pecans, hickory nuts, pine seeds, corn, fruit, insects, and bird eggs. They forage on the ground more than gray squirrels and will venture a hundred yards or more from the nearest tree to reach food, which takes a confidence that most prey-sized rodents don't attempt and that the fox squirrel's size lets it get away with.
Is Fox Squirrels dangerous to people?
No. This species is not dangerous to people when it is observed without handling or disturbance
