Squirrels

Squirrels

As you spend time outdoors with trees, you are bound to see a squirrel or two.  Running around, gathering acorns, these little creatures are an important part of our environment.  In today’s post we take a look at these wonderful little animals.

What are Squirrels?

Squirrels are rodents.  They are in the Sciuridae family.  They are related to things like marmots, prairie dogs, and chipmunks.  There are greater than two hundred squirrel species and they come in a variety of sizes and colors.  Some squirrels can be inches in size, and some feet.  Squirrels in a group are called a dray or scurry.

What Different Kinds of Squirrels are There?

Although there are hundreds of species of squirrels, squirrels can generally be grouped in three ways.  There are tree squirrels, ground squirrels, and flying squirrels.

In the U.S., eastern gray squirrels make up most of the tree squirrels.

One type of ground squirrel are prairie dogs.  Prairie dogs live in social groups and communicate with each other.  The groups they live in can cover large areas of land.

As for flying squirrels, they don’t really fly.  Instead, they glide.  On a flying squirrel, between the body and the legs, there’s a membrane.  This is what they use to glide, and they can do so for long distances, even over one hundred and fifty feet.

What do Squirrels Eat?

Although you might most commonly see squirrels eating acorns and other nuts, they are actually omnivores, which means they eat both plants and animals.  Squirrels eat things such as insects, nuts, seeds, fruits, mushrooms, and eggs.  Although it depends on size, squirrels can eat around a pound a week.

Squirrels eat lots of hard things, like nuts in hard shells.  So they can do this, the four front teeth in a squirrel’s mouth grow continuously throughout the squirrel’s life.  Because they grow, they aren’t worn down by the hard things they chew on.

Although squirrels eat as they go, they also store food.  Squirrels that don’t hibernate, will collect food and store it so they can eat it in winter, when food can be harder to find.

Squirrels generally bury food like nuts so they can find them later.  They can find the nuts they bury through scent and because they can map out the locations.  Sometimes though they don’t find all the nuts they bury, and these have the potential to grow into new trees.

Sometimes squirrels store their food in one place.  Other times they store their food in scattered locations.  Scattering their food helps protect it from theft by other squirrels and animals.  Sometimes squirrels will pretend to bury food in an effort to deceive animals that may be watching where they store their food.

What Eats Squirrels?

A variety of different types of animals eat squirrels.  These include things like owls, coyotes, snakes, and hawks.

When are Squirrels Active?

When squirrels are active can vary by the type of squirrel, the time of year, and conditions.

Some squirrels are something called crepuscular.  This means that the squirrels are active during dawn and during dusk, but inactive at times in between.  This can vary though by the season, with some crepuscular squirrels becoming active around midday during winter.  

Other squirrels are categorized as diurnal, which means they are active during the daytime.  Some of these types of squirrels take breaks during the hottest part of the day.

Some types of flying squirrel are nocturnal and are most active at night.

Do Squirrels Hibernate?

Some squirrels, like some ground squirrels, hibernate.  Others are active during the winter and store food during warmer months to prepare for the colder season.

How Long do Squirrels Live?

This can vary by species and conditions.  As an estimate, a squirrel in the wild could live between five and ten years, although this could be shortened because of things like disease and predators.

Where do Squirrels Live?

Squirrels are native to all continents with the exception of Antarctica and Australia (although they have been introduced to Australia).

In habitats, squirrels generally live in places that have food that they like.

Tree squirrels can be found in forests, parks, and suburban locations among other places.  They live in hollows of trees or build nests outside.  Nests are built in places like hollows of trees, on tree branches, and in human-built structures.  Squirrel nests are referred to as dreys.

Ground squirrels live in burrows and can dig tunnels to go from place to place.

How Many Babies Do Squirrels Have?

Female squirrels breed once or twice per year.  This can be at the start of the year and toward the middle.  They can have between two and eight babies at a time.  Baby squirrels are referred to as kittens or kits and they are blind at birth.

Do Squirrels Communicate?

Squirrels make a variety of sounds to communicate with each other and they also communicate by moving their tails.  Some communications have to do with protecting territory, letting other squirrels know a predator is nearby, and to scare away predators.

Are There Squirrels on Your Roof?

One way to lessen the likelihood that squirrels will run on your roof, and possibly build nests in attic spaces, is to have your trees trimmed so that branches are more than six to eight feet away from the structure.  This can make it harder for them to get to your roof.

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