Squirrels are known to be the members of the family Sciuridae. They are a family that includes small or medium sized rodents. This includes prairie dogs, chipmunks, and marmots. Squirrels are categorized into three types namely; tree squirrels, ground squirrels and flying squirrels. These three categories are broken down into further more types, such as Albino, Mountain tree, Antelope, Grey, Spotted, American Red etc.
Squirrels
Family: Sciuridae
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Suborder: Sciuromorpha
Physical Appearance
Physically, squirrels have bushy trails, which includes really soft and multi brown with a pinch of yellow mixed fur which makes it very attractive. The color of its fur may vary due to different day light, however it is still a beautiful combination of colors. They have big eyes. Squirrels run around on their fours, however when it comes down to consuming their foods, their front two legs works just like human hands! They sit on their hinds and grasp their food with both fronts and consume it by munching it really fast.
Size
There are several types of squirrels so the size range varies greatly from one type to another. Mostly the smallest squirrels grows to 2.8 to 5 inches which is 7 to 12 centimeters in length, and weighs just 0.35ounches or 10grams. The world’s largest squirrel known grows to 36 inches which is 1 meter long and weighs up to 4 pounds or 1.8kg. Grey squirrels are medium sized squirrels. They grow from 15 to 20 inches or 38.1 to 50.9 centimeters in length, with their tails adding an extra 6 to 9.5 inches to its length. They weigh about 1 to 1.5 pounds or 0.45 to 0.68 kgs.
Diet
Squirrels tend to eat fruits and nuts the most. However to prepare themselves for the cold months such as winter they begin to seek food and bury it. This is how they store food so that they can consume it when supplies are scarce.
Extra facts
Squirrels have four teeth in the front of their mouth, which constantly grows throughout their lives. This ensures that their teeth don’t wear down from gnawing on nuts and other objects. They can run up to 20mph (32kmp).
Baby Squirrels
A female carries her youngsters for a gestation period of 29 to 65 days, depending on the size of the species. Mothers tend to give birth for two to eight babies at a time. These babies are often called kits or kittens and are blind as they are born. They depend on their parents for two to three months.
Behavior
Generally all squirrels live in trees, basically inside the holes of trunks or even the tree top in abandoned crow nests. Squirrels begin to look for a new nest as they begin to mate, which is when they are about a year old. Some squirrels live in groups, they exhibit camaraderie. This unselfish trait usually comes off when they feel danger is approaching. As they sense this, they produce warning calls to alert their group. The one who initiates the call, is the last one to leave, which indeed puts its life in more danger.
Life-span
Some of them live up to 10 years in the wild, although majority manages to live 3 to 4 years. However some tends to live longer according to how safe they are from those that hunts them. These creatures mostly live with the fear of what may happen next, however they have great sensing powers to when it comes to danger.
Daily life
They are mostly active at dawn and dusk searching for food. The log muscular hind legs and short front legs helps them to leap. If a squirrel falls, it is said that it can land safely from a height of about 9m which is 30ft. They can also leap more than 6meters! Amazing isn’t it, such small creatures can do so much.
Where can they be found?
Squirrels can be found all around the world, however the well-known widespread is throughout gardens and parks in the UK. Some considers these squirrels to be athletic and entertaining to watch since they are little creatures. However some others find it as a nuisance in their gardens especially because they are bird lovers. Squirrels are known to be very bold, and soon learns to take all foods from the bird tables which destroys the bird feeders.
These are the main life style details and features about squirrels. They are cute little fellows with no harm to do for you. However they can come around looking for some food, but that is all.
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