On Thu, 18 Jun 1998, Kelly Cassidy wrote:

> There are Fox Squirrels on Orcas Island, and in a few other places in
> Washington where they've been introduced. So far as is known, neither
> Gray Squirrel occurs on Orcas, though it's probably only a matter a time
> before someone releases a pet Eastern Gray.
>
Kelly--

years ago, I and three of my outlaw buddies bought a cabin
on Center Island in the San Juans..(next to Decatur)
One of the guys was in the cabin over the weekend the
old ladies thought it would so nice to have squirrels
to feed..just like in the park. they arranged to
bring a bunch of them over from the mainland somewhere
I'm not sure what they were, but they were grey in color.
On the day they decided to release them, everyone gathered
to welcome the squirrels and see how it would go. They
turned them loose and the resident raccoons came out of
nowhere and chased them down and killed them..my friend
said it was amazing..they ran right up those big fir trunks
and crunched them in front of the little old ladies..
needless to say, it ruined their day... I don't know what
the status of squirrels is now on that island.. I never
thought coons would predate squirrels..they must have
obtained these squirrels in a park in Seattle as the
report was they didn't run away, and to their great
disadvantage did not perceive the coons as a threat..

Tom