10 Fascinating Squirrel Facts You Didn't Know Before
Squirrels are small, adorable creatures that can be found in parks all across the United States of America.
They provide free entertainment for those relaxing in parks, and quite often can be silly creatures.
In today's post, we are going to go over 10 fascinating squirrel facts you probably didn't know before.
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Squirrels Can Dig Beneath One Feet Of Snow
The cold winter months do not stop squirrels from finding buried nuts, fruits, and other food!
They can still dig underneath one whole foot in snow- this means that the squirrel will be completely immersed in snow!
This isn't too shocking though, considering that several squirrels are located in climates that get quite cold in the winter.
Squirrels' Front Teeth Never Stop Growing
Most people do not know this about squirrels, and it's actually true with other rodents, such as rats.
Rodent in Latin is rodere, which means to "gnaw," hence why squirrels are called "rodents."
Zig-Zag To Escape Predators
If a squirrel feels under threat, it will run in a zig-zag pattern. This is actually quite effective against hawks and most other predators.
For cars, it does not work so well...
Squirrels Lose Lots Of Food To Thieves
Humans steal, and squirrels share the same sin. It is not uncommon that thief squirrels will watch other squirrels bury food, remember the location, and steal later.
About one out of every four "stashes" a squirrel makes is going to be stolen to a thief or a lucky squirrel.
They have to stock up for the winter, but also bury lots of extra stashes in the event thieves take their food!
Squirrels Pretend-Bury Food To Throw Off Thieves
Some squirrels have evolved in intelligence, and know that there are thieves watching.
If a squirrel feels that it is being watched by a thief, it will pretend to bury something when in fact the nut is not actually being buried.
Squirrels are highly elaborate in this behavior, making the act convincing to the thieves. They will spend just as much time burying nothing to throw off the thief from the real stash.
Newborn Squirrels Are One Inch Long
New squirrels are quite small! It's not likely that you'll come across a newborn squirrel though as they're usually protected by their mothers.
Squirrels Are Smart & Acrobatic
If you don't believe this one, then sit down and a park and watch some squirrels!
They can climb trees, but also jump in between them. They can walk on thin wires, hang upside down, and more.
Squirrels will do anything to get around, and they use this ability to avoid ground predators.
Humans Put Squirrels In Parks
With human urbanization expanding across the globe, several types of wildlife have receded from our urban environments.
Some wildlife creatures such as raccoons & rats have taken a liking to our cities & sewer systems. Others, such as squirrels, needed a little encouragement.
Squirrels at first were systemically placed in parks across North America, and now they can be found in almost every park!
Squirrels Get Bulky Before the Winter
Having a little extra weight provides extra warmth during the cold months.
Before winter, a squirrel will eat as much as it can to bulk up for the winter seasons. The extra mass can be used as food, and will also keep the squirrel warm during the cold season.
Some Nuts Get Left Buried
Most of interesting of all the facts is perhaps that squirrels don't dig up all of their nuts that they have buried.
Some theorize this is because they are stupid, while others think otherwise.
The others believe that squirrels evolved over millions of years to leave some nuts in the ground.
By leaving nuts in the ground, more trees can grow, and these trees can leave more nuts for squirrels.
What do you think, are squirrels forgetful, or working with the trees?
-Wildlife x Team International