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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.
Two squirrels in the entrance of a drey. Male and female squirrels may share the same nest for short times during a breeding season, and during cold winter spells squirrels may share a drey to stay warm. However, females nest alone when pregnant. In North America, squirrels produce broods of about three "pups" twice a year.
Squirrels may share a drey to stay warm. They may also nest in the attic or exterior walls of a house, where they may be regarded as pests, as well as fire hazards due to their habit of gnawing on electrical cables. [39] In addition, squirrels may inhabit a permanent tree den hollowed out in the trunk or a large branch of a tree. [40]
Red squirrels (Tamiasciurus) fall within the clade that includes flying squirrels and other tree squirrels (e.g., Sciurus). [6] There are 25 recognized subspecies of the American red squirrel. [7] The southwestern red squirrel (T. fremonti) was long considered conspecific with T. hudsonicus, but a 2016 phylogenetic study found it to be a ...
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 ...
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.
These squirrels are not considered social and stay in very small groups. [4] [3] They are relatively quiet unless they have intruders in their area and then their high-pitched call can be heard including flicks of their tails. [4] Since they are so quiet and their color helps them to blend into the tree trunks and hide from humans.