Category

Squirrel

The two main squirrel species known to Texas, the gray and fox squirrel, have seen dramatic declines due to the loss of the mast-producing forests now replaced by pine plantations or inundated by reservoirs.

Interviews

Narrator: Shannon TompkinsTitle: Hardwoods and MastDuration: 00:02:36Date: June 15, 2020Shannon Tompkins worked as an outdoor writer for the Houston Chronicle and Beaumont Enterprise for 40 years. Here, he tells about one of the major reasons for the decline of squirrels in east Texas. He traces the decrease in squirrel numbers in part due to the loss of mast, acorns for example, as native oak/pine woodlands have been replaced by pine plantations.