Bright eyed and bushy tailed, squirrels (family Sciuridae) would have been just as abundant in Virginia when the colonists arrived as they are today. Archaeologists at Jamestown have identified hundreds of squirrel bones, particularly in association with the Starving Time of 1609-1610. For the colonists, these plentiful and common creatures became a primary food source in a time of extreme dietary stress.
John Smith wrote extensively of the creatures he and the colonists were encountering, and squirrels were no exception, writing, “Their Squirrels some are near as great as our smallest sort of wild Rabbets, some blackish or black and white, but the most are gray.” Smith was most likely describing fox squirrels and gray squirrels, both of which show up frequently in Jamestown’s faunal assemblages. While the colonists would have been familiar with red squirrels, which were present in both North America and Britain at the time, the larger, more prevalent gray squirrel was new to them. Another quote from Smith reads, “A small beast they [Virginia Indians] have they call Assapanick, but we call them flying Squirrels, because spreading their legs, and so stretching the largeness of their skins, that they have been seen to fly 30 or 40 yards.”
Squirrels were just one of many creatures that were eaten out of desperation before and during the Starving Time. In 1608, Captain Edward Maria-Wingfield, a Virginia Company member and controversial figure who feuded with Smith, wrote in response to allegations of hoarding food, “It is further said that I did banquet and riot. I never had but one squirrel roasted, whereof I gave a part to Mr. John Ratcliffe, then sick, yet was that squirrel given me.”
While squirrels at Jamestown are associated with diet during a time of great struggle, they would later be associated with wealth during colonial times in the 1700s. Squirrels became a pet for the upper class in the early 18th century, as they were seen as a good size for children. They were led on gold leashes and even featured in paintings. Their status as a luxury pet led to the introduction of gray squirrels to the UK in the 1800s. During these time periods, squirrel populations were damaging crops, and these unique pets helped in mitigating damage to farmland. Would you keep a squirrel as a pet?
Today, five species of squirrel live in Virginia – northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus fuscus), southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans), fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), and red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus abieticola). At Jamestown, the most common species of squirrel identified is gray squirrel.
