The Squirrels of Lake Merritt

In Greek, skia means “shadow” and oura means “tail”. Put them together and you get Sciurus, the genus of squirrels!

Come and learn about the shade-tails on our walk, lead by Lila Talcott-Travis, a longtime wildlife rehabber and student of squirrel morphology, natural history, and lore.

Squirrels have achieved a place of distinction in European and English family crests as a symbol of retirement or retreat into the forest, something we all probably think about living in bustling Oakland. Take a time-out from your busy life to learn about…
- Their acute sense of smell! They can smell a rotten or insect infested nut through the shell, and even find caches of nuts under the snow by sniffing them out.
- Their bushy tails! Tails are used for communication, protection from the elements, balance, warmth, and to confuse predators.
- Their evolution with trees! Squirrels and trees have been evolving together for thousands of years, and some production patterns of nuts and cones are thought to have been influenced by squirrels.
- Lots of other things you didn’t even know you wanted to know…

Wild Oakland is a 100% Do-It-Yourself volunteer organization, from the Guiding Committee to the walk leaders. All people involved in this project donate their time because of a shared passion for ecology and education. Our mission is to provide free, fun, relevant, and commitment-free environmental education to busy urbanites.

The walks are geared towards adults and teens, but we encourage parents to bring their young children even if some information may be over their heads!

We’ll see you at the walk!