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October 8, 2008
Ecologically, squirrels are important re-seeders of trees and woodland plants. As they are busily burying their stash of nuts and seeds in preparation for winter, a squirrel can hide as many as 10,000 nuts each fall and can find his buried food under as much as a foot of winter snow. Some of these nuts and seeds are not retrieved and grow into plants in the spring. A squirrel must remember where he has deposited his caches in order to survive the winter. A fascinating fact is that the portion of of his brain that controls memory actually grows by 15% in fall; so squirrels really do remember where they stored all those nuts — and where your bird feeders are.
A common misconception about squirrels is that they hibernate during the winter. While true that squirrels are rarely seen during extreme cold, this is because they remain near their nest where it is warm.
In addition to residing in the Eastern US, Eastern Gray Squirrels can be found in many Western states, Great Britain, Ireland and South Africa. In general, squirrels are found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.
Squirrels can fall up to 100 feet without hurting themselves. They’ll use their tail both for balance and as a parachute. The word “squirrel” means “shadow tail” in Greek. The hibernating arctic ground squirrel is the only warm-blooded mammal able to withstand body temperatures below freezing. Squirrels eyes are positioned in such a way that they can see some things behind them. They need about a pound of food a week and enjoy a varied diet of bugs, nuts, fruit and seeds.
To have survived millions of years on earth, you really have to admire the little guys and lets face it — just have fun watching their antics!
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