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In Norse mythology, the squirrel Ratatoskr is a messenger who scurries up and down the trunk of the world-tree Yggdrasil, carrying malicious gossip and insults back and forth between the dragon Níðhöggr, who sits at the bottom of the tree gnawing on its roots, and the hawk Veðrfölnir, who sits at the top of the tree keeping watch.
The western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus) is a tree squirrel found along the western coast of the United States and Mexico. In some places, this species has also been known as the silver-gray squirrel , the California gray squirrel , the Oregon gray squirrel , the Columbian gray squirrel and the banner-tail .
Squirrels are generally small animals, ranging in size from the African pygmy squirrel and least pygmy squirrel at 10–14 cm (3.9–5.5 in) in total length and just 12–26 g (0.42–0.92 oz) in weight, [8] [9] to the Bhutan giant flying squirrel at up to 1.27 m (4 ft 2 in) in total length, [10] and several marmot species, which can weigh 8 kg ...
Eastern gray squirrels also use dens for protection from predators and to help them look after their young. Young survive 40 percent less if they lived in a leaf nest compared to a den. Squirrels tend to claim 2-3 dens at the same time. Canopy and midstory trees are used by squirrels to hide from predators such as hawks and owls.
Sciurini (/ s ɪ ˈ j uː r ɪ n iː /) is a tribe that includes about forty species of squirrels, [2] mostly from the Americas. It includes five living genera—the American dwarf squirrels, Microsciurus; the Bornean Rheithrosciurus; the widespread American and Eurasian tree squirrels of the genus Sciurus, which includes some of the best known squirrel species; the Central American ...
The fox squirrel (Sciurus niger), also known as the eastern fox squirrel or Bryant's fox squirrel, [3] is the largest species of tree squirrel native to North America. It is sometimes mistaken for the American red squirrel or eastern gray squirrel in areas where the species co-exist , though they differ in size and coloration.
Squirrel is the common name for rodents of the family Sciuridae. In everyday speech in the English-speaking world it usually refers to members of the genera Sciurus and Tamiasciurus . These typical members of the family are tree squirrels with large bushy tails, and are native to Europe, Asia and the Americas.
A favoured site for a drey is a tree crotch about 9–13 m (29–42 ft) above ground level. Squirrels may also nest in attics or exterior walls of buildings, where a drey may be regarded as a fire hazard, as some squirrels have a habit of gnawing on electrical cables. At other times, squirrels may inhabit a permanent tree den in the hollow of a ...