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Squirrels living in parks and campuses [26] in cities have learned that humans are typically a ready source of food, either deliberately or from careless disposal of surplus. Some people do " squirrel fishing " as a way of simultaneously playing with and feeding squirrels.
But unlike the squirrels you may see chowing down on one outside, humans need acorns to be cooked prior to consumption. "Raw acorns contains tannins, which make them unsafe to eat raw," Best explains.
Eastern gray squirrels eat a range of foods, such as tree bark, tree buds, flowers, [54] berries, many types of seeds and acorns, walnuts, and other nuts, like hazelnuts (see picture) and some types of fungi found in the forests, including fly agaric mushrooms [55] and truffles. [40]
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.
Thirteen-lined ground squirrels can survive in hibernation for over six months without food or water and special physiological adaptations allow them to do so. [6] They alternate between torpor bouts of 7 to 10 days when their body temperatures drops to 5-7°C, and interbout arousals of less than 24 hours with their body temperature back to 37 ...
But researchers reassure infected modern red squirrels do not pose a threat to people in the UK. Leprosy ‘may have spread between red squirrels and humans in medieval England’ Skip to main content
It can also be dangerous to the people doing the feeding. [13] In the US, early 20th century park management actually encouraged animal feeding. For example, "the feeding of squirrels had been seen as a way to civilize the parks and rechannel the energies of young boys from aggression and vandalism toward compassion and charity."
Image credits: an1malpulse #5. Animal campaigners are calling for a ban on the public sale of fireworks after a baby red panda was thought to have died from stress related to the noise.