If you have ever planted a garden, you have probably had to deal with squirrels. The critters can eat fruits, vegetables, and flowers; dig up seeds; and be hard to keep away. There are several ways to know if squirrels have invaded your garden. You might see shallow digging (holes the size of golf balls…
Biology professor Joseph Whittaker and a team of students at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota are tracking squirrels on campus to learn more about their behavior. Two students spent two months mapping the entire Concordia campus, including every tree, before they began tracking the squirrels. This allowed them to plot the places on campus where…
If you set up a bird feeder in your yard, you will probably find that the free food attracts other animals, namely squirrels. The creatures can be determined and acrobatic when they want to get at seeds. Squirrels can jump 10 feet from a tree or rooftop or five feet from the ground to get…
Gray and red squirrels are two common tree-dwelling species. While both are adept at tree climbing, they are different in many other important ways. Gray squirrels eat acorns, hickory nuts, beechnuts, butternuts, and walnuts and therefore tend to live in forests with trees that bear nuts. When a gray squirrel finds a nut, it will…
Two new studies have found that squirrels and beavers contribute more to climate change than previously thought. Arctic ground squirrels melt permafrost when they burrow. Permafrost preserves dead animals and vegetation underground for hundreds of years. The squirrels’ feces also fertilize the soil, which allows microbes to thrive. These microbes decompose dead plants and animals,…
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Red squirrels living in the Yukon experience a significant amount of stress, even if they have plenty of food available. During times of high population growth, red squirrels breed earlier in the year and give birth to smaller litters that grow up faster. Ben Dantzer at the University of Michigan and colleagues at the Kluane…
Robert Lishak, an associate professor in biological sciences who specializes in the study of animal behavior and acoustic behavior at Auburn University, is studying how squirrels communicate. He and his students analyzed acoustic signals that squirrels use to communicate with others of their species, as well as potential predators. The team used both model and…
Arizona’s endangered Mount Graham red squirrels will soon get a new lease on life with a captive breeding program that is designed to increase their numbers and protect the species. Less than 300 of the squirrels are living in the wild. The Mount Graham red squirrels are a subspecies that has been separated from other…
Researchers from the University of Toronto discovered that Arctic ground squirrels, both male and female, have levels of androgens, including testosterone and other male hormones, in their bodies that are 10 to 200 times those of other ground squirrels during the summer. The androgens are produced by the adrenal glands on top of their kidneys.…