Eastern gray squirrel
Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin, 1788
The eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is a rodent in the family Sciuridae, order Rodentia, named by Gmelin, 1788. It is a small, diurnal, arboreal herbivore with a representative adult body mass of 506.5 g and values up to 540.3 g.
Quick facts about the eastern gray squirrel
Gestation lasts 44 days, litters have 3 young, and there are 2 litters per year; sexual maturity comes at 369.4 days (1.0 years). It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not a threatened category, and checklists record it in Australia.
- Weight
- 506.5 g – 540.3 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 23.6 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 39 days – 44 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2 – 3src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 11.1 months – 13.2 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 2src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
Photos of the eastern gray squirrel
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the eastern gray squirrel live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The eastern gray squirrel is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the eastern gray squirrel?
The eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), spelled as grey squirrel outside of the United States, is a species of tree squirrel in the genus Sciurus. It is native to eastern North America, where it is the most prodigious and ecologically essential natural forest regenerator. Widely introduced to certain places around the world, the eastern gray squirrel in Europe, in particular, is regarded as an invasive species.
In Europe, Sciurus carolinensis is included (since 2016) in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.
From the Wikipedia article “Eastern gray squirrel” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eastern_gray_squirrel&oldid=1384566601), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the eastern gray squirrel sound like?
Is the eastern gray squirrel endangered?
The eastern gray squirrel is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the eastern gray squirrel classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderRodentia
- familySciuridae
- genusSciurus
- SpeciesSciurus carolinensis Gmelin, 1788
Other names and names in other languages (69)
- American squirrelEnglish
- Black squirrelEnglish
- Carolina gray squirrelEnglish
- Carolina grey squirrelEnglish
- Cat squirrelEnglish
- Eastern grey squirrelEnglish
- Gray squirrelEnglish
- Gray squirrelEnglish
- Grey squirrelEnglish
- Grey squirrelEnglish
- Grey squirrelEnglish
- GryseekhoringAfrikaans
- Amerikaanse EekhorinkieAfrikaans
- IpɬohatkasiAlabama
- سنجاب رمادي شرقيArabic
- Esquirol grisCatalan
- ᏌᎶᎵCherokee
- veverka popelaváCzech
- Gwiwer LwydWelsh
- Gwiwerod LlwydWelsh
- Gråt egernDanish
- Östliches GrauhörnchenGerman
- GrauhörnchenGerman
- Ανατολικός Γκρι ΣκίουροςGreek
- Cindrogriza sciuroEsperanto
- Ardilla de las CarolinasSpanish
- Ardilla gris de las CarolinasSpanish
- hall oravEstonian
- harmaaoravaFinnish
- écureuil grisFrench
- Griis iikhoarntsjeWestern Frisian
- Iora liath MeiriceánachIrish
- feòrag ghlasScottish Gaelic
- feòragan glasaScottish Gaelic
- סנאי אפורHebrew
- Siva vjevericaCroatian
- keleti szürkemókusHungarian
- Scioattolo GrigioItalian
- Scoiattolo grigioItalian
- トウブハイイロリスJapanese
- 동부회색청서Korean
- 동부회색다람쥐Korean
- Pilkoji voverėLithuanian
- Pelēkā vāvereLatvian
- GråekornNorwegian Bokmål
- østamerikagråekornNorwegian Bokmål
- østamerikansk gråekornNorwegian Bokmål
- Østlig GråekornNorwegian Bokmål
- Grijze eekhoornDutch
- Amerikaanse Grijze EekhoornDutch
- Noord-Amerikaanse grijze eekhoornDutch
- misajidamooOjibwa
- Wiewiórka szaraPolish
- Esquilo-cinzentoPortuguese
- Esquilo-cinzento-orientalPortuguese
- Veverița cenușieRomanian
- Каролинская белкаRussian
- Каролинская серая белкаRussian
- Dzo’kda:gö’Seneca
- veverica siváSlovak
- siva vevericaSlovenian
- сива веверицаSerbian
- grå ekorreSwedish
- östlig gråekorreSwedish
- กระรอกเทาแคโรไลนาThai
- Boz SincapTurkish
- Білка сіраUkrainian
- Вивірка сіраUkrainian
- 灰松鼠Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the eastern gray squirrel
Other species in the same genus Sciurus.
Red squirrel
Sciurus vulgaris
Persian squirrel
Sciurus anomalus
Japanese squirrel
Sciurus lis
Cat-squirrel
Sciurus niger
Abert's squirrel
Sciurus aberti
Western gray squirrel
Sciurus griseus
CompareEastern gray squirrel vs Red squirrelEastern gray squirrel vs Persian squirrelEastern gray squirrel vs Japanese squirrelEastern gray squirrel vs Cat-squirrel
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the eastern gray squirrel?
The eastern gray squirrel is a mammal and a rodent in the family Sciuridae, order Rodentia.
How heavy is the eastern gray squirrel?
Adults have a representative body mass of 506.5 g, with values up to 540.3 g, placing it in the small size class.
What does the eastern gray squirrel eat?
The eastern gray squirrel is a herbivore.
Is the eastern gray squirrel endangered?
No. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does the eastern gray squirrel live?
Its lifespan is given as 23.6 years, with values up to 24 years.
How many young does the eastern gray squirrel have?
It has 3 young per litter and 2 litters per year, after a gestation period of 44 days.
Which countries is the eastern gray squirrel recorded in?
Checklists record it in Australia.
Who named the eastern gray squirrel?
It was named Sciurus carolinensis by Gmelin, 1788.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/eastern-gray-squirrel
“Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/eastern-gray-squirrel.
@misc{eastern_gray_squirrel_2026,
title = {Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/eastern-gray-squirrel},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}