Tree squirrels of the Pacific Northwest

Which of these descriptions best describes the squirrels who pass through your garden?

A lively, adorable, cavorting, wide-eyed, bush-tailed acrobat and is a joy to watch. Or the destroyer of flower beds and home irrigation lines, raider of bird feeders, disease-carrying rodent full of fleas and ticks.

Washington has four native species of tree squirrels: the Douglas squirrel, the red squirrel, the Western Gray squirrel and the northern flying squirrel. In addition to our native squirrels, the eastern gray squirrel and eastern fox squirrel were introduced in Washington in the early 1900s. They...