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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.
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 ...
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.
The Xerinae comprise a subfamily of squirrels, many of which are highly terrestrial.It includes the tribes Marmotini (marmots, chipmunks, prairie dogs, and other Holarctic ground squirrels), Xerini (African and some Eurasian ground squirrels), and Protoxerini (African tree squirrels).
In addition, squirrels may inhabit a permanent tree den hollowed out in the trunk or a large branch of a tree. [40] Eastern gray squirrels are crepuscular, [24] or more active during the early and late hours of the day, and tend to avoid the heat in the middle of a summer day. [40] They do not hibernate. [41]
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.
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 ...
A drey is the nest of a tree squirrel, flying squirrel or ringtail possum. [1] Dreys are usually built of twigs, dry leaves, and grass, and typically assembled in the forks of a tall tree. [2] They are sometimes referred to as "drey nests" to distinguish them from squirrel "cavity nests" (also termed "dens").