Squirrel

A successful urban species

Squirrels have adapted remarkably well to human environments. Eastern grey squirrels in particular thrive in:

• Suburban parks
• Backyards with bird feeders
• City green spaces
• College campuses

They’ve benefited from the disappearance of natural predators in urban areas plus the abundance of accidental human food sources — bird feeders, garbage, picnic remnants, and ornamental nut trees.

Accidental forest planters

Squirrels exhibit scatter-hoarding — burying individual nuts in dozens of locations rather than stockpiling them in one place. They remember the locations of most caches, but forget many — some studies estimate squirrels recover only 20–80% of their buried nuts.

The forgotten nuts germinate, often becoming new trees. Oak forests are largely planted by squirrels — acorns are heavy and don’t disperse far on their own. Squirrels carry them dozens of meters and bury them at exactly the right depth and conditions for germination.

Tail signals

The bushy tail isn’t just for balance. Squirrels use it for:

• Communication — flicking patterns indicate alertness, threat, or invitation.
• Heat regulation — wrapped around the body in cold; held over the back as sun shade.
• Counter-balance — during dramatic acrobatic movements through tree canopy.
• Anti-predator distraction — directing snakes’ strikes toward the tail rather than the body.

Many squirrel species

The Sciuridae family includes:

• Tree squirrels (red, grey, fox squirrel)
• Ground squirrels (chipmunks, prairie dogs, marmots, gophers in part)
• Flying squirrels (gliding membranes, mostly nocturnal)

About 285 species worldwide. The Indian giant squirrel (Malabar) is the largest at over 1 m total length; the African pygmy squirrel is smallest at 13 cm.

A red-grey conflict

In the UK, the introduced Eastern grey squirrel has largely displaced the native red squirrel — through both competition and the spread of squirrelpox virus, which is fatal to reds but tolerated by greys. Conservation efforts focus on grey-squirrel control to give native reds a chance.