About squirrels: Appearance, biology, life cycle, habitat, diet, behavior

Appearance and biology

Squirrels are safe animals as long as they plan to stay in the trees; on the other hand, they may grow to be negative or health hazards when they choose to invade a human’s dwelling. They may be attracted to temperate and protected places where they may manufacture their nests as well as have their babies. The squirrels are famous to fabricate their nests out of materials like scraps of cloth, hair, leaves etc. The nests create their living area more flammable. Squirrels are rodents which have bushy tails and they are nimble. Squirrels are present in all parts of the world and they are within the sciuridae family. There are over 200 squirrel species and they can be categorized into three types which are flying squirrels, ground squirrels and tree squirrels. There are so many types of squirrels that you can find out there and they can be identified according to their unique characteristics.

There are many squirrel types and this is one of the reasons as to why their size ranges so greatly. The smallest is around 2.8-5 inches and the weight is around 10 grams. The largest is an Indian squirrel and it grows to around 1 meter long and it is around 4 pounds in weight.

Behavior

A group of squirrels is referred to as a dray or scurry. These are animals that are very territorial and can fight to the death so as to defend territories. The most vicious are the females as they defend their young ones. This is something that you should be ware about especially if you have a number of them, in your property. Some of the squirrels are actually crepuscular meaning that they are usually active at dusk and at dawn only.

Habitat

Squirrels actually live everywhere in the globe all accept in Antarctica and Australia. This is according to the BBC. There are the tree squirrels which you will often find in the areas that are wooded since they love trees. Ground squirrels as the name suggest thrive on the ground. They will usually burrow tunnels underground so as to live there. There are squirrels that will hibernate in the winter so as to stay warm. The flying squirrels usually love to live within tree holes or on nests that they will usually build on the branches and crooks.

Diet

So as to get ready for winter, they will usually burry food. They rely on the foods that have a high percentage of protein, fats and carbohydrates. They eat nits, tree bids, seeds, conifer corns, green vegetation, fungi and fruits. A squirrel can also eat meat when there isn’t enough food.

Go back to the How to Get Rid of Squirrels page or email us if you have any other questions about About squirrels: Appearance, biology, life cycle, habitat, diet, behavior