Squirrels (Latin name Sciurus vulgaris) are very cute and funny small rodents that live in large numbers in forests and parks, and also delight people in the artificial environment, in houses and apartments. The reason for the great love for them is the unusually graceful and beautiful appearance of the animal. Squirrels have a fluffy soft tail and silky fur of various colors - fiery brown, silver, black and even snow-white. Squirrels lead a very active, mobile life, and their postures when eating or running are always graceful and dexterous. Each of us at least once in our lives watched with bated breath their jumps along the branches and tops of trees, and the running of squirrels along vertical tree trunks. Because of their inquisitive nature, gullibility and constant activity, they like to keep these cute animals in apartments. But how long does a squirrel live?
Description, structure, characteristics
The appearance of a squirrel is probably familiar to everyone - a long body, equally long ears, a fluffy tail. The squirrel's ears are elongated, sometimes with tufts at the end. The squirrel's paws are strong, with sharp claws at the end; thanks to this paw structure, all squirrels can easily climb trees.
The squirrel’s tail is very long, it makes up as much as 2/3 of the total size of this rodent, and nature gave such a large tail to squirrels not only for the sake of beauty, it also has one important and useful function - it serves as a kind of “rudder” for squirrels when flying from a tree on the tree. And during sleep, squirrels cover their bodies with their tails like a blanket.
The size of squirrels depends on the species, on average a squirrel is 20-31 cm in length, although there are also larger squirrels with a length of 50 cm, and smaller squirrels whose body length is only 5-6 cm. Such for example the smallest mouse squirrel.
The squirrel's coat differs in winter and summer, due to the fact that this animal sheds twice a year. In winter, the squirrel's fur is fluffy and dense, but in summer, on the contrary, it is short and sparser. The winter color of the squirrel is usually dark brown, red, gray, with a white belly; in the summer, the squirrel is usually red.
Flying squirrels also have a special membrane on their sides that allows them to glide during flight.
How is the average lifespan of animals determined?
There are many unconfirmed signs by which the average life length of animals can be determined. Among them:
Duration of animal growth. The longer it grows, the longer it will live. A good example is crocodiles, they do not stop growing until the end of their lives and die on average at the age of 300 years;
Brain size. The larger it is, the longer the animal’s life. The theory is confirmed by the facts of the short life of small rodents and birds;
The life of an animal is inversely proportional to the number of cubs it bears at a time.
These theories are largely controversial and are subject to further testing, but few doubt the dependence of life time on nutritional conditions and habitat.
Habitats
Where do squirrels live? Squirrels live almost everywhere, with the exception of Australia, the island of Madagascar, the polar territories, southern South America and the desert part of Africa.
As a habitat, squirrels live exclusively in forests, where there are many trees, so they are not found in the deserts of northern Africa and, in general, in places with minimal vegetation. Trees and squirrels are eternal companions; where there are trees, these rodents will most likely be there. Moreover, squirrels spend most of their lives in trees; needless to say, in trees they are in their native element, easily climbing them, jumping from branch to branch.
Lifestyle
Squirrels are active animals that spend most of their time moving. Despite its small size, the animal runs several kilometers every day. The squirrel climbs trees perfectly and is capable of jumping forward at a distance of up to 4 meters.
During the warm season, the squirrel explores nearby areas in search of food and immediately eats everything it finds. But with the approach of cold weather, the animal begins to prepare supplies for the winter. Moreover, he puts them in all the tree hollows and secluded places he encounters.
Interesting fact : the squirrel does not remember where its winter supplies are located. She finds them by chance when she is once again combing the area.
If food becomes scarce and the squirrel begins to starve, it migrates to other territories. In most cases, the animal tries not to go far from its usual places and moves to the neighboring forest. But if the problem with hunger is not solved, the squirrel is able to go on a long journey and cover several hundred kilometers until it finally comes across land with enough food. Sometimes during the journey the animal swims rivers, runs across wide plains and climbs mountains, and it copes with all obstacles without any problems.
Nutrition
What do squirrels eat? What do these cute animals eat? Of course, hazelnuts, but not only them; in addition to nuts, the squirrel’s diet includes acorns, seeds of coniferous trees: spruce, pine, cedar and others, as well as mushrooms and various grains. Being an omnivore, the squirrel is not averse to eating various beetles,
toads, lizards and even bird chicks. During crop failure and famine, the squirrel eats tree bark, lichens, rhizomes and herbaceous plants.
What do they eat
Allen's squirrel
The basis of the squirrel's diet is coniferous tree cones, acorns, and nuts. The animals also eat berries, mushrooms, seeds of herbs and shrubs, and lichens. In early spring, when the stored reserves are completely eaten, squirrels feed on buds and young shoots, and can dig up roots and tubers from the ground.
In tropical species, the diet is dominated by animal food: larvae and adult insects, bird eggs, small amphibians and reptiles. Squirrels living in temperate latitudes, mainly females, also partially switch to animal food. This way they get more nutrients to recover after the birth of their babies.
FLYING SQUIRREL
Wintering
All squirrels prepare thoroughly for the arrival of winter. First of all, they make a lot of shelters for their food supplies, which they also collect in advance. As a rule, they collect acorns, nuts and mushrooms, which they then hide in hollow trees or dug holes. Unfortunately, the collected squirrel reserves are often stolen by other animals, and the furry rodents completely forget about some of their hiding places. However, this forgetfulness of squirrels benefits the forest, since seeds, acorns and nuts forgotten by squirrels often germinate and acquire new plantings.
As for the behavior of squirrels in winter, during severe frosts the squirrels sit in their hollows, half asleep. If the winter cold is not so strong, the squirrels lead a normal active lifestyle, sometimes even stealing the hiding places of mice and chipmunks.
Shedding
In order to have time to acquire new fur by summer, the animal begins to shed between April and May. Before winter, coat renewal begins in September and can last until November. This process is directly related to daytime. When the sun's rays hit the fur, the function of the pituitary gland is activated. Because of this, the animal’s body begins to produce thyrotropin. This substance affects the functioning of the thyroid gland, which begins molting.
Photo of a squirrel during molting
Interesting fact : adult males begin to molt earlier than other individuals. In the spring, the fur is first renewed on the head, and in the fall - on the tail.
The rate of shedding also depends on the availability of food. If the squirrel receives enough food daily, its fur is renewed quickly. But when the animal is forced to starve, molting takes much longer.
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Types, photos and names
In total, as many as 280 species of squirrels live on planet Earth, which are included in 48 genera. Next we will describe the most interesting types of squirrels.
Common squirrel
This is the most common species of the squirrel family; the common squirrel lives throughout Eurasia from Ireland to Japan, and is not afraid to live near humans. This is what we most often see when walking in a park or forest. Has a red color.
Abert's squirrel
This squirrel lives in the coniferous forests of the USA and Mexico. The squirrel differs from others in its larger size, its length is 46-58 cm and its fur is gray.
Brazilian squirrel
She is also the Guiana squirrel, lives in a number of countries in South America. Small size, only 20 cm in length. Has a dark brown color.
Caucasian squirrel
Also known as the Persian squirrel, it is native to the Middle East and the Caucasus. It has medium squirrel size and a brownish-gray color.
Carolina squirrel
Another representative of American squirrels, the Carolina squirrel lives in the forests of the USA, Mexico and Canada. It is gray in color with brown and red markings. The sizes of these squirrels are also somewhat large - 40-50 cm in length.
Fire squirrel
This Venezuelan squirrel has a distinctive red head and ears, which is how it gets its name.
Red-tailed squirrel
Living in the tropical forests of Central and South America, the red-tailed squirrel boasts its bright red tail and larger sizes (30-50 cm in length) than other squirrels.
Western gray squirrel
This squirrel is notable, first of all, for the fact that it is the largest squirrel in the world; it has a body length of 50-60 cm. It also has a silver-gray color, but its abdomen is white. Lives in Mexico and the USA, mainly in
oak and coniferous forests.
Japanese squirrel
The Japanese squirrel, which lives on the Japanese islands, has a beautiful gray color and average squirrel size.
Mouse squirrel
On the contrary, this squirrel is remarkable in that it is the smallest squirrel in the world, it is only 5-6 cm in length.
Interesting facts about proteins
- The largest subspecies of the common squirrel is the teleut squirrel, common in Western Siberia and Altai. The weight of adult individuals often reaches 1 kg. Before the onset of winter, the animals are covered with very thick fur of a silver-gray shade, rare for squirrels.
- A squirrel can survive a fall from a height of 30 m.
- One of the most popular rodents for home keeping is the Chilean squirrel, or degu . The animal has only some external resemblance to squirrels, but in fact belongs to bush rats. This is confirmed by the almost bald tail of the animal. Degus easily make contact with humans, they can be taught several simple commands, and the animal is easy to care for and has no smell.
- Vibrissae in squirrels are located not only on the face. Sensitive hairs grow on the ears, front legs, and in some subspecies, on the stomach.
- In Russia, the squirrel is listed in some regional Red Books. In the country as a whole, the number of animals is estimated at 5 million individuals.
- The front teeth of squirrels are covered with durable enamel only in front, which is why the grinding speed of the front and back of the incisors differs. When eating, the back of the tooth wears down much faster, leaving the incisors constantly sharp.
Reproduction
The mating season for most squirrel species begins in the spring, paradoxically at the most difficult time for these animals. Moreover, squirrels usually lead a solitary lifestyle, and only look for a partner during mating. Two or three males often gather around one female. The males begin a real fight for the female, they growl at each other, try to scare the competitor, and sometimes they even start real fights with chases along the branches. As it should be in nature, as a result, the female goes to the strongest male, who managed to drive away his competitors.
After mating, the pregnant female builds a separate nest for the future offspring. Squirrel pregnancy lasts 35-38 days. From 1 to up to 10 cubs can appear at a time. Baby squirrels are born without hair and blind; only after 2 weeks do they begin to see. For the first 50 days of life, baby squirrels are under the care of their mother and are fed with her milk. But after two months they begin to grow up quickly, leave their mother’s nest, and a year later they become adult and mature squirrels.
Breeding
If the owner wants to breed squirrels as a professional breeder, he will have a lot of work to do.
First you need to install a very large enclosure. After all, now the owner will have many times more pets. It is necessary to create something like a forest in the enclosure: install artificial trees or logs, scatter a lot of branches and put up at least 4 houses. After everything is ready, release two individuals of different sexes into the new home.
The enclosure should be in a warm place and without drafts so that the babies do not get sick.
When choosing baby squirrels for breeding, you need to pay attention to some factors.
This:
- rodents must be active;
- The baby squirrels must not be too fat, otherwise the offspring will be too weak or even dead;
- It is impossible for babies to be too thin, this factor can also lead to weak and underdeveloped offspring;
- the fur should be shiny;
- The mother of the baby squirrels must be prolific and have a lot of milk. This can ensure that babies are well developed.
Squirrels are territorial animals. Therefore, it is better that both pets are the same age and grow up together. Otherwise, they simply will not become friends with each other.
Reproduction can begin when the rodents are one year old. Before pregnancy, it is better to purchase an additional cage for the male.
The gestation period lasts about 35 days. At this time, you need to be very careful about the nutrition of the expectant mother. Her diet should contain a lot of vitamins, minerals and salts. She should also be fed meat and bone meal and cottage cheese.
A few days before the birth of the offspring, the female becomes aggressive towards anyone who is close to the house. Therefore, it is better to transplant the male into a separate cage. And when birth is very close, the animal becomes sensitive to blinking lights and loud sounds.
After giving birth, the female feeds the offspring with milk. But sometimes it’s not enough. And then the owner will have to feed the young animals with formula or milk. It is desirable that it be goat. However, if necessary, diluted cow's milk will also work.
Keeping a squirrel at home is very interesting and unusual. However, this will take a lot of money and effort. After all, the animal is very active and tastes everything that it gets into its paws. But if you are full of patience and strength, then such a rodent will bring you a lot of joy.
Keeping at home
Since the squirrel is a very cute animal, it is not surprising that sometimes people keep them in captivity. When keeping a squirrel at home, it is important to create suitable living conditions for it. Since the squirrel is an active rodent, it needs a spacious enclosure with a length and width of at least half a meter. The enclosure should have a nest or birdhouse, branches on which the squirrel will jump, and shelves on which it will sit.
It is also, of course, very important to provide the squirrel with proper nutrition. You can feed this animal with fresh or dried mushrooms, pine nuts, acorns, and hazelnuts. Cones with seeds will also please the squirrel. To compensate for protein deficiency, it will be useful to give your pet chalk or eggshells.
With enough perseverance, you can train a squirrel to eat from your hand. It is important that you should not feed the squirrel peanuts and salted seeds, they are harmful to it.
Preparation
In order for your future pet to live a long, happy and cheerful life, it is necessary to prepare properly.
First of all, you need to purchase a cage and all its components (feeder, drinkers, houses, etc.). And it is better to install it in a place where there are no drafts.
It is necessary to hide wires and important items in the house as best as possible. Otherwise, your pet will chew and scratch them when he is released from the cage.
Families with children should not have a squirrel. They will certainly want to cuddle the animal that loves it most.
Cage requirements
The squirrel is an active animal, and therefore the cage should be quite spacious. For one individual, the minimum housing size is 60-70 cm, and the height is 1.5 m. It is advisable that the cage bars be galvanized and powder coated. And the gap between them should be no more than 2 cm.
Necessary equipment
Squirrels usually build nests. Therefore, it is necessary to put houses in the enclosure. Usually there are 2 houses for one pet. It is better to place small twigs, pieces of fabric or cotton wool on the floor of the cage. They will help the animal arrange its home. It is also worth noting that the house should have a hinged lid for easy access for the owner.
Be sure to install a feeder and drinking bowl in the enclosure. And it is advisable to put some kind of mineral stone nearby.
It is also necessary to add branches and shelves on which the animal can jump. You can also install a wheel, ladders, hammocks and other details so that your pet doesn’t get bored.
Video
And in conclusion, a very interesting documentary about the unusual abilities of squirrels - “Super Squirrels”.
Author: Pavel Chaika, editor-in-chief of Poznavaika magazine
When writing the article, I tried to make it as interesting, useful and high-quality as possible. I would be grateful for any feedback and constructive criticism in the form of comments on the article. You can also write your wish/question/suggestion to my email [email protected] or Facebook, with respect, the author.
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Character traits
Squirrels move a lot during the day, and they can run both on the ground and travel along the top, moving from one tree to another. The animal moves along the surface in short jumps.
The protein is most active in the morning and evening. She leaves the house and goes in search of food. At night and during the day, the animal prefers to stay in the hole and rest.
Squirrels are rather shy animals. If they sense danger, they will immediately try to hide. The ability to excellently climb trees regularly saves an animal's life. Using its claws, it climbs several meters up in a few seconds and continues moving through the trees.
Small summary
We can safely say that these amazing, cute creatures are a good option for a pet. Yes, even though they don’t live that long in the wild, in a homely atmosphere and comfort, the owner can provide them with a long and happy life.
Proper nutrition, cleanliness, love and care are all the flying squirrel needs. Showing attention, talking and playing with her is also extremely important. Otherwise, the animal may become depressed due to lack of attention and care. After all, these are social creatures.
If you don’t have enough time for it, then it’s better to get a couple of squirrels at once. Therefore, the lifespan of a flying squirrel directly depends only on its owner!
The most exciting question: the relationship between the furry and the children
Even raised in captivity, the squirrel retains a certain amount of caution when interacting with humans.
Only a few individuals will allow themselves to be stroked and picked up, and the chance that you will get exactly one of these is very small. In most cases, you will only occasionally be able to briefly touch the back of the animal. It is strictly not recommended to let a squirrel out for a walk unattended, nor to leave it alone with small children. If you try to grab the animal, your baby may get painful scratches or a bite. Older children need to be explained the rules of communication with a squirrel, and then he will be able to fully experience the delight of independently feeding the beauty with nuts from the palm of his hand.
Before bringing a pet into your home, ask how long squirrels live. When buying a pet for a child, be prepared for the fact that the age interests of children change quickly, and all responsibility for care for many years will fall on you.
Natural enemies
Despite the fact that the squirrel is a fairly agile animal, which is difficult to keep up with both on land and in the air, its list of natural enemies is quite large. When moving along tree branches, the animal should be wary of owls, hawks and other birds of prey that are large enough to carry it into their lair.
The animal also cannot feel safe on the ground. He is being hunted by foxes and wild cats. And the most dangerous enemies of squirrels can be considered marten and sable. These animals are excellent tree climbers, so they are able to pursue prey for a long time both on the ground and on top.
