What does squirrel feces look like? Where is it found?

Squirrels are one of nature’s most amazing rodents. Their outgoing personalities and intelligent minds make them extremely interesting and curious. They can be seen jumping from branch to branch or eating out of people’s hands at parks, usually without the slightest trace of fear or distrust.

This bold curiosity often leads them directly to human dwellings, where they secretly make nests or storage spaces for their food in people’s attics. While this may sound very cute, it can become a health and safety hazard, because they will inevitably chew their way through everything and leave tell - tale droppings that can spread disease.

But, because squirrels are small rodents, telling squirrel droppings from rat droppings can be tricky, and some people confuse them to the extent of believing they have a rat invasion in their home, and preparing to exterminate them as aggressively as possible. Although squirrels are not desirable tenants, they do not need to be killed in order to remove them from the home.

Although extremely similar, squirrel droppings tend to be more rounded, whereas rat droppings taper off on one end. Squirrel droppings can be black or gray, and measure approximately 3/8 of an inch. They also tend to be a little more elongated and fractionally bigger than rat’s feces.

While rats tend to be very clean creatures (contrary to popular belief) and have defined areas for leaving their droppings, squirrels true to their chattery nature, tend to have a more scattered approach, leaving a trail of feces on their many paths.

When cornered, or threatened, a squirrel may choose to attack and ward of the threat, by spraying urine and feces all over its surroundings. This is something that rats or mice do not do. The erratic pattern of their depositions is also a tell – tale sign that you’re dealing with a squirrel, not a rat.

The droppings can be found anywhere that the squirrel frequently travels, except the nest. It is very rare for a squirrel to leave feces in the nest, as this is where it stores its food and nurses it’s young.

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