The North American Red Squirrel
The Forest’s Busy Acrobat
The North American Red Squirrel is a small, feisty bird-like mammal that loves to spend its time in the tops of evergreen trees. They are much smaller than the Gray Squirrels you might see in a park, but they have very big personalities! They are known for their reddish fur and their very loud, chattering voices.
RANGE
Red Squirrels live across a huge part of North America. You can find them all the way from Alaska and Canada down through the Rocky Mountains and the Eastern United States. They stay in places where the winters are cold and the trees are tall.
HABITAT
These squirrels love "coniferous" forests. That is a fancy word for forests with trees that have needles and cones, like pines and spruces. They usually build nests called "dreys" out of grass and bark high in the branches. Sometimes they even find a cozy hole in a tree trunk to stay warm.
DIET
Red Squirrels are mostly herbivores, but they will eat other things if they are hungry.
Seeds: Their favorite food is the seeds found inside pine cones.
Storage: They are famous for making "middens." These are giant piles of pine cones they save up for the winter.
Other Snacks: They also eat mushrooms, berries, and sometimes bird eggs.
LIFE CYCLE
Mother squirrels usually have two litters of babies each year, once in the spring and once in the summer.
A litter usually has 3 to 5 babies.
The babies are born without fur and cannot see at first.
They grow very fast and start exploring the branches near their nest when they are only a few weeks old.
SIZE & WEIGHT
The Red Squirrel is quite small. They are usually about 11 to 14 inches long, but about half of that length is just their bushy tail! They are very light and weigh about the same as a large banana. Their small size helps them run to the very tips of thin branches where larger animals cannot follow.
PREDATORS
Because they are small, many animals try to catch them. Hawks and owls hunt them from the sky. On the ground or in the trees, martens, foxes, and weasels are their main enemies. When a Red Squirrel sees danger, it will sit on a branch and bark or chatter loudly to tell the predator it has been spotted!
ADAPTATIONS
The Red Squirrel has some amazing tools to help it live high in the trees.
Curved Claws: They have very sharp, hooked claws that let them run straight up and down tree trunks and even hang upside down.
A Balancing Tail: Their long, bushy tail acts like a balance pole on a tightrope to help them stay steady while jumping between branches.
Super Teeth: Like all rodents, their front teeth never stop growing. This is helpful because gnawing on hard pine cones wears their teeth down every day.
FUN FACTS
Tree Planters: Sometimes squirrels forget where they hid their seeds. Those seeds grow into brand new trees!
The Mushroom Chef: Red Squirrels are known to hang mushrooms on tree branches to dry them out in the sun so they don't get moldy before winter.
Noisy Neighbors: They are very protective of their space. If you walk into a Red Squirrel’s territory, it will likely follow you and "scold" you with loud chirps until you leave.
ANIMAL TALK
The Red Squirrel is one of the noisiest animals in the forest and is famous for being very "bossy" with its voice.
The Territorial Chatter: They let out a long, rapid-fire series of chirps and chatters to tell other squirrels to stay away from their nut piles.
The Buzz: When they are annoyed, they make a high-pitched buzzing sound that sounds almost like a tiny cicada or a vibrating toy.
The Warning Bark: If they see a hawk or a cat, they will sit on a branch and let out a rhythmic "chuck-chuck-chuck" bark while flicking their tail.
RESPECTING WILDLIFE
Red Squirrels are high-energy neighbors that play a very important role in helping our forests grow.
Bird Feeder Baffles: These squirrels are very clever and can jump long distances. If you want to keep them from eating all the birdseed, you can use a "squirrel baffle" (a smooth plastic dome) on your bird feeder pole. This keeps the squirrels on the ground where they can hunt for dropped seeds instead.
Attic Checkups: Red Squirrels love to find warm, dry places to sleep. To keep them from moving into your house, it is a good idea for neighbors to check their roofs and vents for small holes. Patching these up keeps the squirrels in the trees where they belong.
Sharing the Harvest: If you have nut-bearing trees like hickory or oak, you can expect the Red Squirrels to be very busy in the fall. Leaving a few fallen nuts on the ground is a kind way to help them prepare for the long, cold winter.
North American Red Squirrel Photos
