Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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 .
Eastern gray squirrels also use dens for protection from prey and helps 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.
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 Yucatan squirrel lives in dry deciduous and evergreen forests, semiarid pine-oak woodlands, and secondary forest growing in formerly logged areas. [1] [4] They are found in lowlands below an altitude of 750 metres (2,460 ft). [1] They are active during the day and rest during the night, spending most of their time in trees. [1]
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.
Approximately twice the size of a gray squirrel, the Southern Fox Squirrel is considered to be the most variably colored tree squirrel in the world.
These squirrels have been observed in mating chases with many males chasing one female. [4] An important conservation strategy for the survival of the Arizona gray squirrel is to protect their nesting habitat. This means maintaining large trees with closed canopies that allow access to resources and protection from predators. [4]