Page 57 - South Mississippi Living - November, 2021

Sportsmen in the Magnolia State can hunt two squirrel species, eastern gray squirrels and fox squirrels, both found throughout the state.
People might spot two subspecies of fox squirrel. The Bachman, or “hill country”
fox squirrel, prefers upland forests. Another subspecies, the delta fox squirrel primarily lives in thick mature hardwood forests of the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley, a swampy region along the Mississippi River. Much larger than gray squirrels, fox squirrels come in many color variants from red to solid black.
“Our more upland fox squirrels will have variations of white, black and red,” explains Rick Hamrick, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks top small game biologist. “We can sometimes identify individuals just based
LSon their individual mask characteristics and their different coloration patterns. In the Mississippi
food sources squirrels like to eat including acorns, other nuts, pine seeds, berries, and fruits, squirrel populations bloom. After a bad mast year, squirrel populations dip a bit the following year.
“The mast crop in 2020 was generally fair, so that’s why I think the overall squirrel population might be down just a little bit this year,” Hamrick advises. “The long-term populations seem to
be stable. We’ve had a lot of flooding in the last few years. In some areas, we were dealing with unprecedented duration of flooding. Some areas stayed flooded for months.”
In South Mississippi, small game hunters
might go to the Pascagoula River Wildlife Management Area. Located in George and Jackson counties, the property consists mostly
of swamps and lowland forests. People can only reach many places by boat. The DeSoto and Homochitto national forests also provide hunting opportunities.
“Pascagoula WMA is always a popular squirrel hunting area,” Hamrick says. “It gets a lot of use. It has a large amount of hardwoods. On some
of the national forest lands people can find some creek bottoms that hold squirrels.”
The statewide fall squirrel hunting season runs from October 1 through February 28, 2022,
with a limit of eight per day. People can also participate in a spring squirrel season, which runs from May 15 to June 1, 2022, with a limit of four per day. Season dates and regulations could differ from the statewide regulations on certain public hunting lands, such as state wildlife management areas and national wildlife refuges, so always check the regulations before hunting anywhere.
Color
Delta region, we have some squirrels that are mostly black all over or a rusty red color with a yellowish color belly. Those are typically the two distinct color phases with delta fox squirrels.”
Many people from coastal Mississippi head up to the Delta region trying to bag a solid black squirrel for a trophy. Some fox squirrels also come in nearly solid black coloration, except for a white nose and white ears.
“The population of the delta subspecies of the fox squirrel seems to be stable,” Hamrick states. “In the bigger chunks of forest, the fox squirrel population is in pretty good shape, whether red or black. In some areas, people might see a few more red ones and in other areas, they might see a few more black ones.”
Although highly prolific animals, squirrel populations fluctuate annually. The mast crop of one year drives squirrel populations the following year. During years of plentiful mast, or the varied
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