Squirrels facts
Scientific name: Sciurus carolinensis
Class: Rodent mammals
Familly Sciuridae
Order: Omnivorous
Life span:
Average in nature: 5 years
Maximum in the wild: 12 years
In captivity: 15 to 20 years
Reproduction
Squirrels have one to three gestation periods a year. The first reproductive season takes place between February and April, the second between June and August. Mating starts with a loud whistling of the male to call the females. The female slips away leaving behind small amounts of urine and the male follows her. The coupling itself only lasts a few minutes.
Diet
Squirrels are pretty greedy. The amount of food they eat is really impressive! Being omnivorous, their diet is mainly vegetable, while food of animal origin represents a very small amount of their diets.- Nuts
- Mushrooms
- Hazelnut
- Bark
- Eggs or chicks
- Insects
- Worms and other slugs
- Poisonous species like phalloid amanita
Habitat
The squirrel, a bandit?
Squirrels often take electrical cables as playgrounds, so they are the cause of several power outages, confirmed Hydro-Quebec. They aren’t the only animals bandits, several others are at the origin of its damage!
What's the use of the squirrel's tail?
Their bushy tail sometimes serves as a «blanket» to keep warm when it's cold. It also allows to give an alarm or danger signal when it is slammed on the ground
Is the squirrel smart?
Squirrels are noted intelligent, the number of ten in the intelligence of the ten most intelligent animals.
Squirrel an ecological being?
When squirrels prepare their food for winter, they hide their seeds on part of their territory. Squirrels often do not find them and seeds germinate and make trees. The squirrel is therefore partly responsible for growing forests.
What does the squirrel do in the winter?
The squirrel doesn’t hibernate, but in winter it is less active on cold days. He can sometimes stay several days in his nest, otherwise he continues his normal activities.