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Squirrels eat a variety of nuts, berries, fruit, conifer tree cones, greens, and fungi. ©Dmitry Potashkin/iStock via Getty Images Squirrels are masters at storage and also deception.
Squirrels, being primarily herbivores, eat a wide variety of plants, as well as nuts, seeds, conifer cones, fruits, fungi, and green vegetation. Some squirrels, however, also consume meat, especially when faced with hunger. [21] [32] Squirrels have been known to eat small birds, young snakes, and smaller rodents, as well as bird eggs and insects.
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Squirrels are what's known as opportunistic feeders, meaning that they'll chow down on human food if given the opportunity. Depending on the time of year, squirrels also eat tender leaf buds, wild ...
They do not form a single natural, or monophyletic, group; they are variously related to others in the squirrel family, including ground squirrels, flying squirrels, marmots, and chipmunks. The defining characteristic used to determine which species of Sciuridae are tree squirrels is dependent on their habitat rather than their physiology .
More rarely, red squirrels may also eat bird eggs or nestlings. A Swedish study shows that out of 600 stomach contents of red squirrels examined, only 4 contained remnants of birds or eggs. [17] The squirrel on a tree. Excess food is put into caches called "middens", either buried or in nooks or holes in trees, and eaten when food is scarce. [18]
Squirrels tend to leave the burrows earlier in the morning in the summer months to avoid the heat, and in the winter months their core body temperature increases rapidly upon exiting their burrows. [14] Dust bathing is also done. Ground squirrels eat bulbs, fruits, grasses, herbs, insects and shrubs. [5] They forage daily and do not hoard food. [9]
Squirrels also need 2-3 ounces of water every day. That's why having a bird bath in your yard for the wildlife to drink from is a good idea. But if you don't have one in your backyard, they'll ...