It would seem like an ordinary animal that has lived next to humans for many centuries. However, it is not as simple as it seems at first glance. Let's get to know him better
The squirrel is the most common inhabitant of planet Earth. This animal is found on almost all continents except Australia.
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The most active time of day for squirrels is morning and evening.
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The animals lead a solitary lifestyle, but in winter, in order to survive the cold, squirrels sometimes gather in hollows or nests of 3 to 6 individuals.
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In the wild, squirrels that live up to 4 years of age are considered to be long-lived, although in captivity they can live up to 10-12 years.
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It turns out that the squirrel leads a nomadic lifestyle. Even in ancient chronicles, large movements of squirrels are mentioned. The reason for migration was most often the failure of the main food crops. Squirrels begin to migrate in late summer and early autumn, usually not going far, but sometimes they can go 250-300 kilometers. The animals roam alone, and during their difficult journey they swim across rivers and even sea bays, cross bare mountain tops, and enter populated areas.
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Experts call this animal the cleanest rodent. Moreover, the male spends more time grooming the coat than the female.
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The birth rate among squirrels can increase up to 400% if the year is fruitful. But in the event of a hungry year, the number of animals in the forest drops significantly. In general, the squirrel would quickly turn into a pest if it were not for the large number of enemies, which reduces the density of the squirrel population. Those hunting squirrels are led by eagle owls, owls, pine martens, and sables. In cities they are often hunted by cats and dogs.
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Squirrels are excellent swimmers. Their main task is not to get their tail wet (they hold it above the water). If, due to some wave, the tail gets wet, the squirrel will immediately drown, since it will act as an anchor.
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Squirrels are very fertile. In a year, one squirrel can give birth to 3 broods with 2-11 babies. Baby squirrels are born with well-developed claws, but are completely blind. Squirrels do not reproduce in captivity. Mating season for squirrels occurs twice every year. A female squirrel does not mate repeatedly with the same male.
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A squirrel can remain safe and sound if it falls from a height of 30 meters. Her tail helps her with this. The squirrel uses its tail as a rudder: thanks to it, it can jump from tree to tree 15 meters in a curve and 4 meters in a straight line. At the same time, on the ground the squirrel does not jump so far: only 1 meter in length.
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The common squirrel sheds twice a year, but the hair on its tail changes only once a year.
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To survive the winter, one squirrel needs about 3,000 nuts.
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A squirrel’s nest is called a “gayno,” and one animal usually has many, up to 15 such dwellings. Most often, the nest is built in a hollow tree or in a birdhouse, lining everything inside with dry leaves, stems, moss, and feathers. If there is no suitable hollow or birdhouse, the animals build their home between the branches of a tree, at a height of 7-12 meters.
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The lower part of a squirrel's nest resembles a crow's nest. And on top it is covered with a lid and has the shape of a ball with two exit holes - the main one and the spare one. Females are engaged in building nests, while males settle in abandoned nests of females or large birds - crows, starlings, blackbirds. Squirrels move from one nest to another every two to three days to escape pests.
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The squirrel is not only a smart, but also a cunning animal. In search of food, she has adapted to life next to humans: squirrels find something nutritious for themselves in bird feeders, know how to ask passers-by for something tasty, and tear out plants planted by people in search of seeds. Nut lovers can sometimes steal something tasty from a field or garden, which they learn from each other. Sometimes, in order to get to work, they specially gather in groups of two to five animals and distribute roles. The task of some is to distract attention, while others, messengers, take away the prey they have their eye on.
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The squirrel cracks nuts in an unusual way: from the side where it has a sharp tip, it gnaws a small hole and inserts two lower incisors there. The squirrel's lower jaw consists of two parts, between which there is an elastic and very strong muscle. When the squirrel pulls the two pieces together, the incisors move apart and the nut cracks.
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The animal deals with cones just as quickly and skillfully: it extracts the seeds by touching the scale with its teeth, it bites it off, and the seed slips out. It takes three minutes to make one pine cone. Over the course of a day, a squirrel can obtain seeds from 15 spruce trees and about 100 pine cones.
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Squirrels are omnivores, their diet includes about 150 seeds from various trees. Its main part is the seeds of conifers: spruce, pine, cedar, fir, larch. In oak forests, the squirrel will not disappear either - it will eat acorns and hazelnuts. The squirrel menu also includes mushrooms, berries, herbs, mosses, lichens, tubers and rhizomes. If the nut harvest was not good enough, the squirrels feed on the buds and young shoots of the trees.
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Like many rodents, squirrels make provisions for the winter - they hide nuts, acorns, cones and mushrooms in hollow trees, and some species bury them in the ground. But often the animal forgets where it hid its food.
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A squirrel's teeth, like any other rodent, grow throughout its life. And the squirrel is forced to constantly grind them down. If you start grinding, the teeth will grow and will interfere with the absorption of food.
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The flying squirrel, with the help of its lethal membrane, can change the direction of its flight by 90°.
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The etymology of the word squirrel is interesting. It comes from the common Slavic “belъ”, which means white. In the old days, the word “white” meant not only color, but also “ghostly, invisible.” Because of its speed, the squirrel could be called ghostly. In ancient times, this animal was called “vveritsa”. In the fall, squirrels molt and their fur turns whitish. It was these squirrels that were called “bala vveritsa.” They hunted precisely these animals, with light fur. The name was mentioned often, and over time it was shortened to “bula”, later the suffix -k- was added.
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The squirrel was depicted on the money of the Republic of Belarus
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An interesting method of protection from a winged predator: in case of danger, the squirrel seems to be playing hide and seek - it runs up a tree trunk in a spiral, forcing the enemy to fly around and gain time.
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The ancient Greeks called squirrels "sciurides". “Skia” is a shadow, “aura” is a tail.
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Croatian women are prohibited from eating squirrel meat during pregnancy, as it is believed that the child may be born black.
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Dwarf squirrels found in Africa are considered super miniature squirrels. Their distance from the nose to the tip of the tail does not exceed 2.5 cm.
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The weight of an adult squirrel, even a very well-fed one, does not exceed one and a half kilograms, and usually does not reach even one kilogram.
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There are currently 365 species of squirrels in the world. They, in turn, are divided into 7 families, which also include prairie dogs, ground squirrels and marmots.
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Fossils found in North America indicate that the ancestors of the gray squirrel lived in this area about 50 million years ago. This type of squirrel is often called “living fossils” because they have not changed much since then.
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