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Where does squirrel lives: Introduction
The most memorable thing within the Ice Age movie series may not be the three main characters, but the squirrel that goes crazy for acorns. From the first episode of the movie until the fifth episode, this little squirrel named Streak is always in the fight for acorns, hiding acorns, opening acorns efforts, although it never said a word, but always with its exaggerated action to make us laugh.
This little squirrel in Ice Age is always on the lookout for acorns, and a lot of people on the Internet went out and bought squirrels as pets just because they watched the Ice Age movie. Where does squirrel lives? However, in fact, cute little things like squirrels are very common around us, and it is common to see these little guys in many city parks.
Squirrels are mammals belonging to the rodent order Squirrelidae, a genus of squirrels. There are 30 different species under this genus, which are distributed all over the world except Australia and Antarctica, and are a very common and easy to see animal. I saw no less than 10 of them in the woods in a nearby park last weekend.
Identifying Squirrels
Where does squirrel lives? Most of the squirrels we usually see belong to the Eurasian red squirrel, which is extremely common in the northern part of the Eurasian continent, from England to Siberia to northern China. However, although this little thing called red squirrels, but we can see every day is generally gray, brown, black, this is because this squirrel in Europe is generally red, but because of its distribution area of the vast area, so in other different areas in order to adapt to different environments and show other colors to. However, although these squirrels have different colors, they are very easy to distinguish. Look at the belly, if the belly is white, it is most likely it.
Two Steps to Find Squirrels
In fact, where does squirrel lives? Two simple steps can greatly increase the probability that we will observe these little cuties.
The first step is to look for trees
Where does squirrel lives? Finding a forest of coniferous trees is half the battle. Most of the time, squirrels like to live in coniferous trees, such as pines and fir trees, and the bigger the tree, the denser the branches, and the denser the canopy, the more squirrels like it. This is because a dense canopy helps squirrels resist predation by raptors.
They will look for branches suitable for nesting and build their own nests, but sometimes they will also use the holes and nests that already exist in the trees, so once we see tall conifers (especially fir trees, which studies have shown that squirrels prefer nesting in fir trees to pines), and if these coniferous forests are relatively large, then basically, we are very close to the squirrels.
If the place has both conifers and broadleaf trees, then it’s even better. This is because squirrels prefer mixed conifer and broadleaf forests to completely conifer forests, and the denser the woods, the better they like it. Where does squirrel lives? The denser the woods, the denser the branches, the easier it is for squirrels to move through the passages between the branches – squirrels are agile, not only good climbers, but also good jumpers, and they often jump for passage between the branches.
In addition, in mixed coniferous forests, there is a rich variety of plants, which provide squirrels with a rich and stable food resource. Squirrels are omnivorous, in addition to the usual pine cones and acorns we all know, plant berries, fungi (various mushrooms), nuts, etc. are within the range of the squirrel’s diet, in addition, they will also eat leaf buds, flowers, mosses, small invertebrates, birds’ eggs and so on. So where there is an abundance of plant species, there is a great variety of food that can be provided, which is very conducive to the survival of squirrels.
Where does squirrel lives? If you can find such places with large coniferous forests (or mixed coniferous forests), congratulations, you are very close to squirrels. What? You want to just look up and find a squirrel’s nest? This may be a little more difficult. Squirrel nests are usually found in the trunks of trees 8-16 meters above the ground, and although their nests are quite large (about 30 centimeters or so), what can you do even if you find them? If you look up for a long time, you will get whiplash, so just wait for the squirrels to come down on the ground, won’t it smell good?
The second step is to find the right moment to observe
Once we’ve found a spot where the squirrels are suspected to be active, we’re actually ready to keep watch. For those who are patient or want to observe squirrels for a long period of time, buy a small matzah that is often sold inside train stations and go squatting when you are free, there will always be a time when you see a squirrel. However, for those who are impatient, there is another way to greatly increase the chances of seeing squirrels, and that is to find the right time.
Theoretically, squirrels are active year-round and do not engage in hibernation behavior. And the best part is that squirrels have the same activity patterns as us humans and are also diurnal, so we are able to observe them all year round. However, by knowing more of the squirrel’s activity patterns and pinpointing them, we will be able to observe them more easily. In the spring and summer, fresh shoots can be easily found in the vicinity where squirrels live, so squirrels are generally active near their nests. Their frequency of activity throughout the day is generally U-shaped, increasing between 5-8 a.m. and 15-18 p.m., so spring and summer mornings and afternoons are fine, and we can observe them at times that are comfortable for us.
In the fall, squirrels can be observed a little later in the year than in the summer. Let’s put it this way, when we feel the sun is just right and warm is when the squirrels are active, so the probability of observing squirrels increases when we go out when we feel comfortable and warm ourselves. Since squirrels don’t put on fall fat (or not as much fat), they store food to survive the harsh winter months. Most of the food they store is high-fat, high-energy nuts such as pine nuts, hazelnuts, and acorns, so in the fall they are busy searching for food in coniferous forests.
Once they have found their food, the squirrels will dig a hole and hide it, but there are some bad squirrels who will wait for an opportunity to peek into their fellow squirrels’ hiding places and then steal it and eat it. If we are lucky enough to see a squirrel’s version of catching a thief, two squirrels will usually get into a fight and we will get to watch the show.
Squirrels fighting for food in the fall, so in the fall we will be lucky enough to see squirrels searching around for pine towers in coniferous forests where pine cones are plentiful. Instead of hauling in whole pine towers, they will usually strip the towers of their scales and then take the cores with them for storage. When peeling off the scales, they will hide behind the tree trunk, or stand directly on the ground to bite the pine tower, at this time, if we listen carefully, we can also hear the sound of their peeling the pine tower, which can also help us to find the location of the squirrels.
In winter, squirrels generally have less time to move around, which is the same as us humans, who just want to get under the covers when it gets cold. However, this may also be the time when some squirrels are short of food, so you can occasionally see the squirrels out of the activity, this time to observe, you cannot come out too early or too late, some zoologists have studied the squirrels in the north, the squirrels in Heilongjiang in the winter time active time between 8:00-14:00. In other words, the chances of seeing squirrels in the middle of the day are higher in winter.
Where does squirrel lives? The first place to look for squirrels is coniferous forests (I know you probably wouldn’t recognize the names of the trees even if I told you, so I might as well talk about this biggest feature). Near coniferous forests, if there are squirrels, you’re likely to see them in the spring, summer, fall, and winter, but in spring, summer, and fall it’s recommended to observe them in the cool of the morning and afternoon, and in the winter it’s recommended to observe them in the middle of the day.