A couple of days ago I was just walking through a park in my city, clearing my mind a bit trying to rest from the madness that means living in Venezuela and I found a lot of small, friendly and very beautiful squirrels. So I came home, I read a bit about them and I realized that they are fascinating animals (besides very beauty) and that is why today I come to talk about them and show you the beautiful photos I took.
If you live in a big city or in the countryside I'm sure you've ever seen a squirrel. They are common animals, able to adapt to any environment and survive without problems. These rodents are not as well known as I would like, in spite of being very numerous, since being so fast they pass by us almost without realizing it and we do not pay them much attention.
The squirrels over the years (although their natural habitat is forests), have adapted perfectly to urban cities without fear of humans. Even in many of the parks of the thousands of cities that exist in the world, these little ones wait for some innocent person to come to feed them, (they love thatb btw).
Squirrels are small rodent mammals that at first sight appear sympathetic and joyful. These little animals come from the family of Sciuridae of which there are about two hundred different species. The squirrels that we usually see in the trees belong to the genus Sciurus, which comes from the Greek words "skia" (shadow) and "oura" (tail) and refers to the habit of these rodents to be placed in the shadow with their long and thick queues.
As a general rule the color of the squirrels is brown and within this tonality, there are lighter or darker variations. Of all species, almost all have that predominant color but there are exceptions of which some, it seems that they are red or even brown.
The measures of the squirrels are between 20 and 25 cm only body, if we counted all its length including up to the tail would have to increase it the same measures, that is the double about 15 or 20 cm more reaching between 40 and 50 cm in total. (Although there are species of squirrels that can reach more than 90cm)
The shape of the tail of the squirrels makes it look like an "S" because of its curved shape covered with many disheveled hairs and, in turn, that to the touch, they tend to be spongy and very graceful. Apart from the physical aspect the tail of the squirrels serves to stabilize and maintain a proper balance when it moves either by the branches of trees or even when they swim, getting in the water to control the direction they want to go.
Despite the popular belief they do not keep nuts in the holes of the trees, in fact the squirrels bury them. The great majority of the seeds that the squirrels bury are forgotten, and from them new trees are born, they fulfill a vital function in nature. (They also predict the seed harvest months in advance)
They have four front teeth that grow continuously and do so at a rate of about six inches (15 centimeters) per year, according to the Mother Nature Network site. This would help your incisors to endure the gnawing.
Not only do they eat nuts, they also eat leaves, roots, tree bark, fruits and even some small insects. It is interesting that some of these creatures have learned to drain the sweet sap from the bark of the plants and then lick it. They can also eat foods made by humans, such as chocolate, bread and cookies.
They have a perfect view when they are adults, this allows them to detect any threat but also any food for the winter. However, they are born blind, for that reason their mothers protect their for two months, during which time they bring them food and feed them.
The legs of these small rodents use them both to move and to lean on the ground. They are able to stand on their hind legs making the front ones free to hold the food and eat them with their little "hands".
Squirrels seem to be animals with very altruistic social behavior. They are not always gathered in groups, but when it is the case, they support each other and help each other. If a predator appears in the vicinity, there is one that gives the alarm. Surprisingly, this same individual is the last one to leave when the collective runs away.
They seem to be very abundant animals, but some species are threatened, such as the shaggy flying squirrel (Eupetaurus cinereus, Endangered Extinction), the flying squirrel of Namdapha (Biswamoyopterus biswasi, Critically Endangered), the tufted ground squirrel (Rheithrosciurus macrotis, Vulnerable) and the European suslik (Spermophilus citellus, Vulnerable). The most important threats are hunting and loss of habitat due to deforestation for agricultural and urban development. Some species live in protected natural areas, but many do not enjoy legal protection.
The reproductive cycle of the squirrels begins at the same time that the spring begins, that is, when the cold begins to leave and the food begins to abound again. The females usually have two litters of 3 or four offspring in the course of a year, although there are cases of squirrels that can have up to 6. The time they take to gestate is about 40 days. At the time of birth, their babies do not see anything, nor do they listen, and they also do not have any hair, being very usual that some die in less than a week. Little by little and after the month and the young are going to have more aspects of young squirrel, with all their teeth, being able to feed other foods other than breast milk.
There are many factors why squirrels can die. The first of them, but although not more usual is by natural death. Their life expectancy without diseases or deaths by predators can reach an average of 6 to 7 years, although it has been proven that a squirrel that has been kept in captivity, with all the vigilance of its caretakers, avoiding diseases and with a healthy diet has doubled this number and they have lived more than 10 years with ease. However, this is not usual in the wild, since squirrels enter the main menu of many predators
Changes in climate will also affect the life expectancy of squirrels, since they are very likely to catch a cold, eventually having pneumonia, dying in less than a week. For this reason, winter becomes a lethal test for them, as they have had to gather strength, eat well and have created a strong burrow to avoid dying from these changes.
To end this post, I leave some curious facts about them
⚫Squirrels adopt. It is a very common practice among them, despite having their own biological offspring, if they find other young abandoned or something happens to their parents, they adopt them in their families.
⚫25% of your food is stolen. Squirrels spend three parts of their day hiding food. This is because most of the food is stolen from other squirrels or birds.
⚫Squirrel males masturbate shortly after copulating with females to reduce the risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. In fact, the observations reveal that the habit of masturbation is more frequent in dominant males, who copulate more.
⚫They can be domesticated. You can have them at home as pets. They will make you laugh and you will see that they are very entertaining but you will never get rid of their mania to bite things and it could be that your clothes are more pierced than they should be.
⚫There were saber-toothed Chipmunks in addition to saber-toothed tigers, and fossils of these animals have been found.
⚫They use the smell of a snake to confuse predators, you could say they use a snake perfume.
⚫They can not vomit, belch or experience heartburn. How lucky!
⚫They can know if a nut is good with just smelling it.
⚫In the world, there are more than 200 species of squirrels, among which are the flying squirrel and marmots.
